The Rooks: Survey & Valuation of Self-Build Bungalow in Lewes

What was the client looking for?

The client needed a Building Survey and Valuation. Interestingly, the property was a ‘self-build’ and it was important to inform the client of the quality of construction.

They wanted to know the standard of the self-build and they needed reassurance that they were not paying an excessive price.

What did Grumitt Wade Mason do?

Grumitt Wade Mason…

• inspected the property and took detailed notes in order to prepare a full Building Survey
• carried out a market valuation

 Were there any challenges within this project?

When calculating the value of the property, we were confronted with two challenges:

1. the type of construction – self-build, and based on an existing wall, which was found to have extensive cracking and loose render
2. its situation at the foot of the walls of Lewes Prison

However, by following the procedure set out in the RICS Red Book, we arrived at a suitable value for the property.

We recommended that the wall should be made good as a matter of urgency and we detailed the method by which the work should be carried out. In particular, we were able to advise our client of additional work that would be necessary if the cracking had continued through to the wall and not only to the render.

We also identified an urgent need for external decoration and noted that the timber around the windows was now vulnerable to wood rot.

Typical sign of wood rot

Not only did we point out urgent matters that we considered would have an effect on the value of the property, we also alerted the client to numerous maintenance items.  These included re-fixing a slipped slate and re-sealing around the windows and doors.

Reflections on the project

There were complications with the property, not only for the Building Survey, but also for the Valuation.

However, we rose to the challenge and produced a Building Survey and Valuation to the satisfaction of our client.

What next?

• Read about our Building Survey of a traditional, timber-framed house
• Discover 13 things to check before your house survey