Greater London · London and the South East
Pre-Purchase Roof Survey in Balham
Need a pre-purchase roof survey in Balham? We can help, with a written report you can act on. Book a weekday or weekend visit.
- Standing water on a flat extension roof
- Patch repairs that may hide an ongoing problem
- Blocked or leaking gutters
Pre-purchase roof surveys for homes and businesses in Balham
Book after your offer is accepted and before exchange. At that point you can still ask questions, because nothing is binding yet. We survey seven days a week, which helps when a sale is moving quickly. Basic reports arrive within 48 hours, Standard within 24 to 48 hours and Premium the same day. Typical surveys look at bitumen or mortar used in place of proper repairs and lead that has worked loose at a wall or chimney, across natural slate, chimney stacks and flat-roofed extensions and dormers.
In London, lots of houses have been split into flats, extended or fitted with a dormer loft conversion. Each change adds roof details, such as flat roofs, new flashings and junctions with the original slopes. If you’re buying a flat or house in Balham, or have just had new roofing work done, those junctions are often where problems start. Lead work around dormers and new flat roofs is easy to get wrong and easy to miss.
How fast the report arrives depends on the package: the Basic Survey within 48 hours, the Standard Survey in 24 to 48 hours and the Premium Survey on the same day.
- Where
- Balham (SW12, SW17, SW4)
- Region
- Greater London
- Cost
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Report
- Written, with photos, emailed to you
- When we survey
- Weekdays and weekends
- Cover
- PI and public liability insurance
- Call
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
What we can’t see
To be straight with you, a roof survey has limits:
- Faults hidden behind ceilings, boards or coverings
- A valuation or a promise of a lower price
- Structural calculations (that’s a structural engineer’s job)
If in doubt, ring 07833 053749 or send us an email and we’ll point you to the right survey before booking. The full list of what we check.
Roof types and parts we check
- Clay and concrete tiles
- Natural slate
- Lead flashings and valleys
- The roof space
- Flat-roofed extensions and dormers
- Chimney stacks
- Gutters and downpipes
What we do, step by step
Where it is relevant and can be reached safely, the roof space is checked as well as the outside. Inside, we look for staining, damp, gaps and signs of movement, as far as the space allows. The whole visit usually takes roughly 1–2 hours at the house you’re buying, depending on its size and how much of the roof can be seen. From the street, a London terrace usually shows only its front slope or parapet, so a visit in Balham moves between viewpoints: the pavement, upstairs windows, the loft and any safe spot at the back. If other people live in the building, let us know who can let us into the shared parts.
- After your offer is agreed, you book and share your timetable.
- Access to the house and the roof space is agreed in advance.
- We start outside, looking at the roof from ground level and from vantage points.
- We then look from upstairs windows and inside the loft where it’s safe.
- The report is emailed with photos and recommendations, ready to use before exchange.
How to prepare
- Unlock side gates and any roof access doors
- For a flat or shared roof, check access with the freeholder or managing agent
- Check the loft hatch can be reached
Book a survey
A quick phone call is normally the easiest start: phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form, and we will ask about the building and what you need. You’ll have a price before anything is arranged.
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Pre-purchase roof surveys in Balham: local notes
Inner London’s Victorian and Edwardian terraces often have Welsh slate roofs. A butterfly roof with a central valley gutter, tucked behind a parapet wall, is common on these houses. Lead flashings, party-wall upstands and shared chimney stacks are typical of these houses, if yours is one of them. Material and age explain a lot of what turns up on the day, whether the roof is old or brand new. Carlyle's House, about 2.9 miles north, is one of the historic houses in the wider area around Balham. On older houses around here, roofs often carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead.
Landlords with a home close to Balham station may find that a survey before purchase, or before signing off a new roof, saves surprises once a tenant moves in. As a London address, Balham can be tricky for parking: let us know about permits, visitor bays or off-street space when booking.
Balham is about 2 miles south-west of Stockwell, in Greater London. If you’re in Balham, booking works exactly as it does anywhere else: a call or an email, a price, then a date. We cover towns and villages across Greater London, large and small.
All of SW12, SW17 and SW4 is within our area for pre-purchase roof surveys. That includes homes and businesses on Lynn Road, Weir Road and Byrne Road. Other places close to Balham include Grange Mills (1 mile north-east), Hyde farm estate (1 mile east), Clapham Park (1 mile north-east), Streatham Park (1 mile south-east) and Tooting Bec (1 mile south-west). We also work in nearby towns like London (5 miles north-east), City of Westminster (5 miles north), Marylebone (5 miles north), Kensington (4 miles north-west), St Pancras (6 miles north) and Shoreditch (7 miles north-east).
What’s near Balham
Locally, jobs take us to homes and businesses close to Oak Lodge School, Wandsworth Common and The Bedford pub and the streets around them. Balham has its own railway station: Balham station. Other landmarks nearby include St James' Hospital (0.5 miles west) and London Sewing Machine Museum (0.6 miles south-west). Not far away are Knight's Hill and Battersea Park Lake.
What affects the cost of pre-purchase roof surveys
Prices vary from roof to roof, for these reasons:
- The number of roofs, including extensions and garages
- Any need for thermal images or a drone flight
- The type of building, from a house to a block or an office
- Whether you choose the Basic, Standard or Premium Survey
Prices start from £150, with VAT included, for a Basic Survey. Standard is from £250 and Premium from £400, both inc. VAT. You will know the exact price before booking.
What we need to know
When you call or email, these details help:
- Any photos you have, taken from the ground or a window
- Whether there is a loft hatch, a shared roof or tricky access
- What’s prompted the survey
- Any marks or damp showing indoors
We survey roofs on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays. To find a date that works for you, call 07833 053749 or drop us an email.
Balham questions
Is drone flying allowed in Balham?
It depends on the exact address and the weather on the day. The flight restriction zone around London Heliport in Battersea covers Balham, or comes right up to its edge. Before any flight there, we ask the heliport for permission, and the flight only goes ahead if it is given. London’s airspace includes flight restriction zones around Heathrow, London City Airport and London Heliport, and restricted areas over Hyde Park, the City of London and the Isle of Dogs. Each address is checked against all of them before the drone goes up. A small drone cannot fly safely in strong wind or a downpour, though the rest of the survey goes ahead either way.
How do I find out if my home in Balham is listed?
Historic England’s list shows listed buildings, and the local council can tell you about conservation areas. If a home is listed, changes that affect its special interest need listed building consent, and in a conservation area re-roofing in different materials may need permission.
At what stage of buying should I get the roof surveyed?
The sooner after your offer is accepted, the better. The report is most useful before exchange, while you can still ask questions and negotiate.
Is this an asbestos survey?
No. We do not carry out asbestos surveys or testing. If we see materials that could contain asbestos, such as cement roof sheets or soffits on buildings from before 2000, we flag them.
Do I need to be at home?
It depends on what we need to see. Inside the building and in the loft, we need someone to let us in, while outside access can be discussed as you book.
Do you work in Balham?
Yes. We cover Balham and the rest of Greater London. For a price, phone 07833 053749 or drop us an email.
Should I get a roof survey as well as a RICS home survey?
That depends on how much you want to know about the roof. A home survey may recommend further investigation of the roof, and our survey gives you that closer look. It is not a replacement for a RICS survey.
Leave it or get it looked at?
Even if you go ahead regardless, knowing the roof’s condition helps you plan. The report shows what needs doing first, so you can plan work before small faults get bigger. Work on a London roof is rarely simple to arrange, with parking, neighbours and access all to think about. Knowing what’s needed early gives you time to plan it calmly, rather than in a rush after a leak.
Every price we give includes VAT, and the report is not charged as an extra. Our price is from £150, including VAT. Size, height and access decide where your roof falls.
Why us?
- Package prices that include VAT
- 5,000+ surveys completed
- We hold a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID
- Plain-English reports with photos
See our cost guide and our case studies.
Signs you need a pre-purchase roof survey in Balham
Viewings rarely include a proper look at the roof. You see the rooms, not the slates. New paint on a ceiling can hide old water stains, which is why buyers book a closer look before committing.
Here are some of the things we see often:
- Cracked flaunching or crumbling chimney pointing
- Blocked or leaking gutters
- Sagging ridge lines or uneven roof slopes
- Patch repairs that may hide an ongoing problem
Take an older house close to Church of St Mary: older patch repairs can hide behind a tidy front slope, and the survey looks past them.
Before booking anyone
- Will the report include photos?
- Will they check the loft as well as the outside?
- Whether the price includes VAT
- What the survey will not cover
What you can safely check yourself
It helps to keep a record: dates of leaks, photos from the ground and any work done on the roof. Share it with us when you book, as it helps us focus the survey.
If you have a loft with safe access, take a look inside. Use a torch and stay on the joists or boards, checking for stains, damp wood or chinks of daylight.