Property Surveys and Party Wall Advice in Snaresbrook

We were contacted by a client in the E18 area who was worried about a crack in the flank wall of her house. One of our senior surveyors, William Weaver, visited to prepare Specific Defect Report which would identify the cause of the defect and recommend possible remedies.

The property was an end of terrace house built in the 1930’s and separated from the next terrace of houses by a small alleyway. The crack was a long vertical crack no more than 1mm wide on the outside face of the wall and not visible internally. There was an identical crack in the neighbour’s flank wall in the same position.

The crack was easily identifiable as a thermal movement, caused by sunshine heating up the brickwork making it expand and contract, which over the years had caused the cracks in both properties. The visit was very quick and it put the client’s mind at rest.

After withdrawing from the purchase of a property that our surveyor David Breeze had previously inspected, one of our clients returned to us with the request of another Level 2 Homebuyer Report, in which the inspection was for a two-bedroom, purpose-built flat located in South Woodford, E18.

Since David had also inspected the previous property, he was able to advise the client that this flat would require far less maintenance, within her capacity to manage. In contrast, the other property had significant issues, including major damp and condensation problems, as well as the potential presence of asbestos in the kitchen ceiling.

Although the new flat wasn’t in perfect condition, it only required minor maintenance, such as improving internal ventilation and renewing mastic seals on the windows and bathroom fittings. Overall, this made it a much better investment choice for the client.
The client left a review where she mentioned the efficiency in which she received the report.

The client came to Peter Barry in need of an RICS Red Book Valuation in order to pay back a Government Help to Buy Loan for a flat in South Woodford, just moments from our office. Her property was under offer but a report would be required to verify that the achieved price was correct.

Our Associate Director and Senior Valuer Matthew Price was instructed (assisted by his colleague James Daniels) and an inspection promptly arranged. Local comparable sales evidence of similar purpose-built flats supported the under offer price as being reasonable and the client was very happy with the service.

“Couldn’t have ask for a better service. James came round to measure up and was extremely professional and also such an a lovely person. Matthew was able to get my report back to me really quickly and I am extremely grateful”.

Having previously commissioned a survey of a property through Peter Barry, a client recently returned to us for further assistance for a second property, a purpose built flat in a block built in about 1938 located close to the border between South Woodford and Snaresbrook. Our senior surveyor Shaun Blake undertook the inspection and produced a Level 2 Home Survey.

Being one of 102 flats in the development it was important to include an assessment of the block and site as a whole, which raised issues about the quality and condition of the hard landscaping around the site, the safety of a number of mature trees and the condition of the roof coverings, with part of the site having recently been re-covered, but a significant proportion retaining original coverings.

Within the flat, the report raised a number of issues in relation to the services installations, with clear advice upon the due diligence needed to follow up with the vendor on service history and testing. Our client was again very pleased with the service, commenting ‘service as ever was excellent. The time from us having our offer accepted to the survey being completed was within the week and the report received a very few days later.’

We were contacted by a client in the E18 area who was worried about a crack in the flank wall of her house. One of our senior surveyors, William Weaver, visited to prepare Specific Defect Report which would identify the cause of the defect and recommend possible remedies.

The property was an end of terrace house built in the 1930’s and separated from the next terrace of houses by a small alleyway. The crack was a long vertical crack no more than 1mm wide on the outside face of the wall and not visible internally. There was an identical crack in the neighbour’s flank wall in the same position.

The crack was easily identifiable as a thermal movement, caused by sunshine heating up the brickwork making it expand and contract, which over the years had caused the cracks in both properties. The visit was very quick and it put the client’s mind at rest.