Latest blog posts

Since introducing the service almost 10 years ago, our surveyors at Peter Barry have valued hundreds of loft spaces on behalf of leaseholders, freeholders and sometimes both when there is a share of freehold or they get along. We have probably clocked up over a thousand party wall awards covering loft extensions and have noticed an increase in the ... Read more >>

We’ve been hearing about building material shortages anecdotally for a few months now but more recently reports have filtered through to the national media. The cause of the shortages seems to be a combination of Brexit, the pandemic and the recent blockage in the Suez Canal.  The supply problems come at a time when there is strong demand for ... Read more >>

Of all the types of property extension the conversion of a loft space is one of the more affordable in comparison to side and/or rear extensions and they do of course, see you gain additional bedroom(s). So, what are the various types, are what do they typically cost? Simple Dormer Extension This is the most common and most affordable extension ... Read more >>

Over the last couple of years we’ve put on a series of lunchtime CPD sessions covering party wall procedures for Architects, engineers, housing associations and local authorities. We're now accepting requests to book sessions over the next few months. Originally the sessions were held at the organisations’ offices but over the last year, ... Read more >>

Completing the party wall awards is often the last part of the jigsaw required to allow work to commence on site and the process which leads up to that point can be delayed for any number of reasons; from technical queries relating to the proposed works to the appointed surveyors’ holiday arrangements. It’s therefore advisable to get started ... Read more >>

While the current social distance regulations remain in place, surveyors are under pressure to spend as little time inside occupied properties as possible. One way of doing that is to rely upon a photographic only schedule of condition instead of the traditional written record but can it ever be as useful? Prior to the pandemic the primary ... Read more >>

An amendment to the General Permitted Development Order which allows property owners to add up to 2 further storeys to their property without planning consent came in to force on 30th December 2020. So does this mean we’re going to see houses all over London being extended upwards despite how incongruous such an extension may look? A scan ... Read more >>