Milton Keynes · London and the South East
Pre-purchase roof survey in Great Horwood, Milton Keynes
A roof survey before you buy a house or flat across Great Horwood, using drones and thermal imaging where it applies. Get in touch for a price.
- A ridge or slope that dips
- Slipped or missing slates and tiles
- Signs of past leaks inside the loft
What happens on the day
Where it is relevant and can be reached safely, the roof space is checked as well as the outside. In the loft, the signs we look for are staining, damp, daylight and sagging, as far as the space allows. The whole visit usually takes between one and two hours on an ordinary house, and more on a big or complicated roof. In a hamlet or village like Great Horwood, a postcode doesn’t always lead to the right gate, so a few directions are welcome. The visit itself is the same as anywhere else.
- We help you pick the package that suits the property.
- A date is booked on a weekday, Saturday or Sunday.
- The coverings, ridges, valleys, flashings, chimneys and gutters are inspected and photographed.
- Moisture detection, structural checks, thermal imaging or a drone are added where your package includes them.
- You receive the report, with findings prioritised by urgency, so you can raise them with the seller.
Before the survey
- Point out any leaks or damp patches
- Agree roof access with the managing agent if it’s shared
- Gather any invoices or paperwork from past roof work
Booking a survey
To book a survey, call 07833 053749 or drop us an email with the address and what you’d like to know about the roof. We’ll confirm the price before booking.
Related advice
Pre-purchase roof survey in Great Horwood
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 asking from facts rather than guesses. It can also help you decide whether the purchase is still right for you. We survey chimney stacks, clay and concrete tiles and lead flashings and valleys, and common reasons people get in touch are sagging ridge lines or uneven roof slopes and signs of past leaks inside the loft.
Being in a small place like Great Horwood makes no difference to the inspection itself: it just means planning the journey and access beforehand. Mention any outbuildings, barns or garages with roofs you’d like looked at when you book, so the visit can be planned around them. Whether you are buying or checking new work, the same care goes into it. Visits can be booked on weekdays, Saturdays and Sundays.
The report is written in plain words, so you do not need to be a roofer to follow it. Each point is backed by a photograph where possible, and recommendations are put in order of urgency where relevant.
- Where
- Great Horwood (MK17)
- Region
- Milton Keynes
- Cost
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Reports
- Written, with photos, emailed to you
- Survey days
- Monday to Sunday, daytime
- Insurance
- Professional indemnity and public liability
- Phone
- 07833 053749
- Updated
- 27 October 2026
Practical tips
You don’t need to be a roofer to help. Here’s what helps most:
- Notice patches of new decoration in top-floor rooms
- Ask whether there are papers for past roof work
- Book once your offer is accepted
- Let us know your timetable
The report gives any roofer you ask to quote a clear brief. The photos show the defects and where they are, which makes quotes easier to compare.
After you move in, have leaves and moss cleared from gutters and valleys, ideally once the leaves have dropped. Overflowing water is behind a lot of damp. Use a gutter contractor rather than going up a ladder yourself.
When you need someone else
It helps to know what a survey will not do before you book:
- Whether timbers meet design loads
- Asbestos testing of any kind
- A valuation or a promise of a lower price
Not sure which survey suits your roof? You can call 07833 053749 or send us an email and we will tell you. The full list of what we check.
Roofs we survey in Great Horwood
- Chimney stacks
- Natural slate
- Clay and concrete tiles
- The roof space
- Flat-roofed extensions and dormers
- Lead flashings and valleys
- Gutters and downpipes
How the survey changes by roof type
Lead flashings and valleys
Flashings are a common source of leaks, so they get close attention in a pre-purchase survey. Any that need attention are photographed and explained.
Clay and concrete tiles
Clay plain tiles are common on older South East homes, and some still have peg tiles. Where pegs have rotted, tiles can slip.
Places near Great Horwood
What else we do in Great Horwood
Why get it checked now?
A mortgage valuation isn’t a roof survey. Its job is to check the property’s value for the mortgage, and it will not look closely at the roof. Our survey is done for you, and the report is written for you to use. Where a roof is exposed, as many are in small places like Great Horwood, driving rain gets into any weakness, and older walls, once damp, take a long time to dry.
Bigger, taller and commercial roofs take more time to survey, so the price reflects that. The price is confirmed before booking.
Why book us in Great Horwood
- Thermal imaging and drones used where they help
- Surveys seven days a week
- Covered by professional indemnity and public liability insurance
- More than 20 years surveying roofs
Take a look at our cost guide or what we found on two real jobs.
Checking the roof from ground level
The one thing to avoid is getting up close. Slates, tiles, flat roofs and rooflights can give way, and falls from height are serious. That part is for a survey, using safe viewpoints and a drone where it applies.
During heavy rain, look at the gutters from the ground or a window. Overflowing water can point to a blockage or a sagging run.
Buying a home or a new roof in Great Horwood
Across the South East, older homes tend to have slate or clay tiles, and many later ones concrete tiles, and flat-roofed additions turn up almost everywhere. Each material has its own typical faults, which is what a buyer or the owner of a new roof needs to know about. Historic houses such as Claydon House, about 4.9 miles south-west, show how far back building in the area around Great Horwood goes. If you own one of the older houses, expect a mix of original materials and later repairs on the roof, and a listed home or one in a conservation area may need consent for changes of material.
If you live in an older home near Church of St James, ask the seller about past roof repairs, because older roofs frequently have patched valleys, replaced slates and reset ridges.
Great Horwood is about 5 miles east of Buckingham, in Milton Keynes. We carry out pre-purchase roof surveys in Great Horwood for houses, flats, blocks and commercial buildings, with a written report and photographs every time. Great Horwood is one of the towns and villages in Milton Keynes where we work. For surveys nearby, see our Milton Keynes page.
We survey roofs across MK17 for pre-purchase roof surveys. Whether your property is on High Street, The Green and Willow Road or anywhere close by, we can help. We also cover the places around Great Horwood: Little Horwood (1 mile east), Nash (2 miles north), Winslow (2 miles south), Whaddon (3 miles north-east) and Swanbourne (3 miles south-east). Within a short drive, we also cover Milton Keynes (6 miles north-east), Bletchley (6 miles east), Newport Pagnell (10 miles north-east), Bletchley and Fenny Stratford (7 miles east), Furzton (5 miles north-east) and Whitehouse (5 miles north-east).
Landmarks near Great Horwood
Around Great Horwood, our work takes us to homes and buildings near Sir Thomas Fremantle School and The Crown pub. A little further out are Buckingham Community Hospital (5 miles north-west) and Drayton Parslow Mound (4.2 miles south-east). Green spaces nearby include Buckingham Sand Pit.
Your questions about pre-purchase roof surveys in Great Horwood
Do you cover Great Horwood?
We do. Every survey there gets the same written report with photographs, and visits run on weekdays and weekends.
Is Great Horwood within the area you cover?
We do. Villages and rural addresses get the same survey as a town house, with the route planned beforehand.
Are you insured?
Our cover is professional indemnity plus public liability.
How quickly will I get the report?
That depends on which survey you choose: within 48 hours for Basic, 24 to 48 hours for Standard and the same day for Premium. Let us know your timetable when booking.
When should I book a pre-purchase roof survey?
The sooner after your offer is accepted, the better. You need the report before you exchange, because after that the roof is yours to deal with.
Can I take the findings back to the seller?
Yes. Buyers use the findings to ask questions, ask for repairs before completion or ask for a price change. What the seller agrees to is their decision.
Does the weather affect the survey?
Light rain doesn’t typically stop a survey, and it can even help show where water is getting in. Heavy rain or strong wind can ground a drone and make the roof unsafe, so if conditions are not right we’ll arrange another day with you.