Greater London · London and the South East
Pre-Purchase Roof Survey in Erith
We take a careful look at the roof at your property in Erith, with photographs and a written report.
- Quick fixes on flashings and valleys
- Ponding, blisters or splits on a flat roof
- Blocked or leaking gutters
Pre-purchase roof survey in Erith
With a written roof report, you can go back to the seller or agent with specifics. You can ask about the roof’s history, ask for repairs before completion or rethink the price. What the seller agrees to is up to them, but you will be negotiating from a clear picture rather than a hunch. It also helps you decide whether to go ahead at all. We survey natural slate, flat-roofed extensions and dormers and clay and concrete tiles, and the problems we are asked to look at most are gutters that overflow or drip at the joints and loose pots and cracked flaunching.
Many London homes have been converted into flats, extended at the back or given a loft conversion with a dormer. Every alteration brings new junctions, flashings and flat-roof areas to look at. For a purchase in Erith, or for new roofing work there, those junctions deserve a proper look. Dormer cheeks, lead work and new flat roofs are worth checking closely, as faults there are easy to miss.
After the visit, you get a photo-illustrated written report, sent by email. It explains the condition of the roof, the defects we found and what we recommend.
- Place
- Erith (DA8, DA17, DA7)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Reports
- Emailed report with photos and recommendations
- Appointments
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Cover
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Call
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
Roof by roof
Gutters and parapets
Some older terraces have a butterfly roof with a central valley gutter. If the home you are buying has one, that gutter and its outlet get a careful look.
Flat roofs
A flat roof that has been coated over several times may hide problems underneath. We record what we can see and say where a closer look is needed.
Before and after the survey
There’s plenty you can do without going near the roof. Here’s what helps most:
- Ask for any paperwork for recent roof work
- Notice patches of new decoration in top-floor rooms
- Book once your offer is accepted
- Ask when the roof was last worked on
With the findings in hand, you can talk to the seller or their agent. You might ask for the work to be done before completion, or ask to adjust the price. The outcome is between you and the seller.
Don’t block the vents at the eaves. Poor ventilation lets condensation build up, wetting timbers and insulation. Avoid packing insulation into the eaves so tightly that air can’t flow.
What happens on the day
We work from the outside in: outside views come first, then the roof space if there’s safe access. All told, expect roughly 1–2 hours at a typical house, with time for the loft where it can be reached. For a visit in Erith, parking and access are the things to plan: let us know about permits, visitor bays or off-street space, which floor the property is on and how to get into the loft. On the day, the roof is looked at from the ground, from windows, from inside the loft space and from the roof where it is safe.
- After your offer is agreed, you book and share your timetable.
- Access to the house and the loft space is agreed in advance.
- We start outside, looking at the roof from the ground and from vantage points.
- We then look from upstairs windows and inside the loft where it’s safe.
- You get a photo-illustrated written report and recommendations before you exchange.
How to prepare
- Check pets are kept safely away
- For flats, check roof access has been agreed
- Point out any leaks or damp patches
Booking a survey
Booking is simple: just phone 07833 053749 or send us an email and give us some details about the property and we’ll suggest the right survey. The price is agreed up front.
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For landlords and managing agents
Letting agents can arrange access with tenants, at a time agreed ahead of time. Surveys run on any day of the week, which helps when tenants work during the week.
Surveys can also be booked by buyers’ agents acting for a client. The report is emailed, so it can go straight to your client.
Questions from Erith
Can parking be tricky for a visit in Erith?
London parking needs a little planning, so let us know about permits, bays or a driveway as you book. That way the visit can be planned around it.
Are there drone restrictions around Erith?
The answer turns on the exact location and the conditions on the day. The flight restriction zone around London City Airport comes within about 2 miles of Erith. We check the exact boundary for the address before flying, and if the roof falls inside it, we ask for permission first. 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. High wind or heavy rain also stops a small drone flying, though the rest of the survey goes ahead either way.
Can I take the findings back to the seller?
Yes. You might ask for work to be done, ask questions or ask for a change to the price. What the seller agrees to is their decision.
Do you test for asbestos?
No. We don’t sample or test for asbestos. The report may flag materials that could contain asbestos on buildings built or refurbished before 2000, with a recommendation to have a specialist asbestos surveyor check before it is disturbed.
Do you survey roofs on blocks of flats?
Yes, as long as access is agreed. The roof of a block or converted house is often shared, so we need permission from whoever owns or manages the building. We inspect only the parts we’re allowed to reach.
How quickly will I get the report?
The Premium Survey has a same-day report, Standard 24 to 48 hours and Basic within 48 hours. We send it by email, with photographs.
Do you work in Erith?
Yes. We cover Erith and the rest of Greater London, as part of our work across London and South East England. For a price, ring 07833 053749 or use the contact form.
Do you need a pre-purchase roof survey in Erith?
Viewings rarely include a proper look at the roof. You walk round the rooms, but the roof stays out of sight, and a quick glance from the street misses a lot. Fresh decoration can also cover the marks an old leak left behind, which is why buyers book a closer look before committing.
A survey can pick up problems such as:
- Blistered or split felt on a flat roof
- A ridge or slope that dips
- Worn or lifted lead flashings
- Gutters that overflow or drip at the joints
Hall Place and Gardens, about 2.3 miles south, is one of the historic houses in the wider area around Erith. Buying a period property here means asking about the roof’s age and repairs, and about any listing or conservation area.
Questions to ask before booking
- If they fly a drone, whether they hold a CAA Flyer ID and Operator ID
- Whether the inside of the roof is included
- How they’ll see the roof: from the ground, the loft, the roof or by drone
- What’s outside the scope of the survey
Towns and villages near Erith
Other services in Erith
Should I look at the roof myself first?
It’s useful to keep a record: when leaks happen, ground-level photos and any past roof work. Share it with us when booking and it will help the survey.
Inside, the loft is a good place to look, with care. Use a torch and stay on the joists or boards, and look for staining, damp timber or daylight coming through.
What a pre-purchase roof survey looks like in Erith
Further from the centre, London’s housing takes in interwar semis with hipped roofs in clay or concrete tiles as well as slate-roofed terraces. Hips, bay roofs and later loft conversions are typical of those semis, if your home is one of them. For a purchase or a newly finished roof, the materials decide which details matter most. The flight restriction zone around London City Airport comes within about 2 miles of Erith. If the drone is used for your survey, the exact boundary is checked for the address first.
If you live in an older home near Christ Church, a survey will show how the roof has been repaired before, which helps you judge what’s coming. For landlords with property near Erith station, the roof is worth checking before you add another property to a portfolio or pay a roofer in full.
Erith is about 3 miles north-west of Dartford, in Greater London. Whether the building in Erith is a house, a flat or a commercial unit, we can survey the roof. Our area takes in places right across Greater London, large and small. Our London page covers surveys nearby.
We cover every part of DA8, DA17 and DA7 for pre-purchase roof surveys and the streets around it. Local streets include Church Road, Town Square and Erith High Street, and we cover them all. Neighbouring places we cover for pre-purchase roof surveys include Northumberland Heath (1 mile south), Bexley Riverside (1 mile south), Belvedere (1 mile north-west), Lessness Heath (1 mile north-west) and Barnehurst (1 mile south). Within a short drive, we also cover London (11 miles west), City of Westminster (14 miles west), Marylebone (14 miles west), St Pancras (13 miles west), Shoreditch (11 miles west) and Walthamstow (11 miles north-west).
Landmarks near Erith
Locally, jobs take us to homes and businesses close to Trinity School, The Cross Keys pub and Erith School, among other places. There’s a railway station in Erith itself: Erith station. A little further out are Erith Museum (less than half a mile east) and Erith and District Hospital (within half a mile south-west). The countryside around Erith includes Crossness Nature Reserve.