Greater London · London and the South East
Finchley Pre-Purchase Roof Survey
Pre-purchase roof surveys around Finchley, with a written report you can act on. Book a weekday or weekend visit.
- Slates or tiles that have slipped or gone
- Gutters choked with leaves and moss
- Cracked flaunching or crumbling chimney pointing
How we price pre-purchase roof surveys
Not every roof costs the same to survey, for these reasons:
- The number of roofs, including extensions and garages
- How tall the building is and how easy the roof is to see
- House, block, shop or office
- The shape of the roof and its details
We offer three survey packages: Basic from £150, Standard from £250 and Premium from £400, with VAT included. The price for your roof depends on its size, access and what you want to find out.
Booking your survey
Getting the details right at the start saves time. Please include:
- Anything about access we should know
- What kind of property and roof it is
- When you need the report by
- The reason for the survey, such as buying, a leak or storm damage
Photos help, if you have them. Pictures from ground level or a window are fine. To get started, call 07833 053749 or email us.
Pre-purchase roof survey in Finchley
If you are buying a flat, the roof may well be shared. Depending on the lease, roof repairs may fall to the building owner or a management company, with costs frequently passed on through the service charge. We inspect what access allows us to see safely, and the report helps you ask your solicitor or the managing agent the right questions. If the building has a flat roof, we check that too where access allows. If you’ve noticed slates or tiles that have slipped or gone and blocked or leaking gutters, a survey will tell you what’s going on, on natural slate, flat-roofed extensions and dormers and chimney stacks alike.
London terraces and converted houses frequently share a roof line, chimney stacks and gutters with the house next door, with parapet walls and party-wall upstands marking where one roof ends and the next begins. That matters for anyone buying in Finchley or checking a new roof there: we inspect what we are given access to and can see safely, which may not include a neighbour’s side. If it is a flat, the lease normally sets out who is responsible for the roof.
The written findings come by email, ready to forward to whoever needs them. Turnaround is within 48 hours for Basic, 24–48 hours for Standard and same day for Premium.
- Place
- Finchley (N3, N2, N12, NW11)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Your report
- Emailed report with photos and recommendations
- When we survey
- Weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays
- Insurance
- PI and public liability insurance
- Phone
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Also near Finchley
What else we do in Finchley
What we cannot see
It helps to know what a survey will not do before you book:
- Asbestos testing of any kind
- Defects hidden under coverings or inside walls without opening up
- Walls, floors, services and rooms below the roof
If you are not sure which survey you need, phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form and we’ll give you a straight answer. What a survey covers and doesn’t.
What we check
- Clay and concrete tiles
- Natural slate
- Flat-roofed extensions and dormers
- Chimney stacks
- The roof space
- Gutters and downpipes
- Lead flashings and valleys
FAQs for Finchley
Are there drone restrictions around Finchley?
Usually it comes down to two things: the airspace at the address and the weather. 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. Before any flight, we check the Drone Safety Map for airspace restrictions, including zones around airports and prisons. The flight also waits for calm, dry weather.
How do I find out if my home in Finchley is listed?
We can’t confirm that for you, but Historic England’s list and your council can. Both listing and conservation areas can limit changes of roofing material, and councils can also use Article 4 directions.
Will the roof report help me negotiate with the seller?
Yes. Buyers use the findings to ask questions, ask for repairs before completion or ask for a price change. The outcome is between you and the seller, so we can’t promise any saving.
Do you carry out surveys on Saturdays and Sundays?
We survey seven days a week: Monday to Friday, Saturdays and Sundays. Just let us know the days that suit you.
Does your survey replace a RICS home survey?
No. We survey the roof, not the whole building, and it is not a RICS Level 2 or Level 3 survey. It works alongside a home survey.
I live in a flat. Can you survey the roof?
Yes, once whoever controls the roof agrees access. We look at the parts we are given access to.
What insurance do you have?
We hold professional indemnity and public liability insurance, for every survey we carry out.
Local roofs and buyers in Finchley
Where the drone is part of the survey, we check the Drone Safety Map for restrictions before flying. In outer London, interwar semis with hipped, tiled roofs sit alongside older slate-roofed terraces. Bay roofs, hip ridges and dormers from later loft conversions are the details that set these houses apart. For a purchase or a newly finished roof, the materials decide which details matter most.
For an older house near a landmark such as St Paul's Finchley, older patch repairs can hide behind a tidy front slope, and the survey looks past them. Heath Hall, about 1.8 miles south, is one of the historic houses in the wider area around Finchley. When you buy an older home, the roof’s age, past repairs and any listing all affect what you might spend later.
Finchley is about 6 miles north of City of Westminster, in Greater London. We carry out pre-purchase roof surveys for homes and businesses in Finchley and the surrounding area. Across Greater London, we cover Finchley and the places around it. Our London page covers surveys nearby.
We cover every part of N3, N2, N12 and NW11 for pre-purchase roof surveys. If you need a pre-purchase roof survey at a property on Station Road, Chaplin Square and Market Place or anywhere close by, we can survey it. You’ll find Finchley on the B1462, so it’s easy for us to get to. We also cover Church End (1 mile west), Woodside Park (1 mile north), North Finchley (1 mile north), Friern Barnet (2 miles north-east) and Oakleigh Park (2 miles north). We also work in nearby towns such as London (8 miles south-east), City of Westminster (6 miles south), Marylebone (6 miles south), Kensington (7 miles south), St Pancras (6 miles south-east) and Shoreditch (7 miles south-east).
Local landmarks in Finchley
Around Finchley, our work takes us to homes and buildings near The Elephant Inn, Bishop Douglass School and Francis Skaryna Belarusian Library and Museum, among other places. Other local landmarks include Victoria Park (under half a mile north) and Woodhouse College (1 mile north-east). For rail, the closest station is New Southgate station, about 1.9 miles north-east of the centre. Nearby you’ll also find Finchley Memorial Hospital (under half a mile north-east) and Grand Arcade (1 mile north). Open spaces near Finchley include Highgate Hill and Lakeside Nature Reserve.
Leave it or get it looked at?
Without a survey, you are relying on a glance from the pavement. That rarely shows the back slope, the valleys or the top of the chimney. We fill that gap before you’re tied in. In a London terrace or conversion, a roof defect rarely stays your problem alone: failed flashings and blocked valley gutters can send water into more than one home. Dealing with it early is far less disruptive.
Simple, low roofs take less time to survey than tall or complicated ones, and the package matters as well. The price is always agreed first.
Why book us in Finchley
- More than 20 years surveying roofs
- Weekday and weekend surveys
- Independent findings on the roof’s condition
- Package prices that include VAT
See our cost guide or two real surveys.
Surveys for landlords and agents in Finchley
Managing agents and residents’ management companies use roof surveys to plan maintenance. Recommendations are set out with the most urgent first where relevant, which helps with budgets and planning.
Letting agents can arrange access with tenants. We survey on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays, which can make access easier.
When to book a survey in Finchley
A chimney stack stands out in the wind and rain. Mortar erodes, the flaunching around the pots cracks and the flashings work loose. A stack may be shared with the neighbours, which can affect how any work is arranged.
We are often asked to look at:
- Signs of past leaks inside the loft
- Roof slopes that look uneven or sagging
- Loose pots and cracked flaunching
- Lead that has worked loose at a wall or chimney
Landlords with a home close to New Southgate station may find that a roof report gives you a clear picture before you buy or settle up with a roofer.
What to check before booking
- How they’ll see the roof: from ground level, the loft, the roof or by drone
- How long the report takes to arrive
- Their track record with similar roofs
- What follow-up you get after the report
How it works
We don’t take risks to get a closer look. We inspect whatever is safely visible, and anything we cannot see is noted in the report. The survey usually takes roughly 1–2 hours at most homes, with bigger or more complicated roofs taking longer. In a London conversion, the way into the roof space is frequently from a communal landing or the top flat. If that applies to your building, it helps to agree access with the neighbours or the managing agent first. Otherwise, the visit in Finchley runs like any other.
- You get in touch after your offer is agreed, with the address and your target exchange date.
- We arrange access with you, the agent or the seller.
- We inspect the roof from the ground, windows, the loft and the roof itself where it is safe.
- We check and photograph the slates or tiles, ridges, valleys, flashings, chimneys and gutters.
- Your report arrives by email, with photos and recommendations prioritised by urgency.
Preparing for the visit
- Mention any parking restrictions on your street
- Jot down any questions you want answered
- Leave side gates unlocked
Book a survey
Every survey is priced before it’s booked, so you know the cost up front. Pre-purchase roof survey starts from £150, including VAT. To book, call 07833 053749 or drop us an email.