Greater London · London and the South East
Riddlesdown Pre-Purchase Roof Survey
A roof survey before you buy a house or flat across Riddlesdown, with drones and thermal imaging where they help. Get in touch for a price.
- Damp timbers or stains in the loft
- Blocked or leaking gutters
- Standing water on a flat extension roof
Pre-purchase roof survey in Riddlesdown
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. We check as much of the roof as access safely allows, and the report helps you ask your solicitor or the managing agent the right questions. Where the building has a flat roof, it is checked as far as access allows. Common reasons to book are patch repairs that may hide an ongoing problem and lead that has worked loose at a wall or chimney, on natural slate, lead flashings and valleys and the roof space.
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. If you are buying a flat or house in Riddlesdown, or have just had new roofing work done, those junctions are frequently where problems start. Lead work around dormers and new flat roofs is easy to get wrong and easy to miss.
Most points in the report come with a picture, so you can see each defect rather than just read about it. Anything out of sight on the day is listed as such.
- Location
- Riddlesdown (CR8, CR2)
- Wider area
- Greater London
- Prices
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Your report
- Written, with photos, emailed to you
- Survey days
- Monday to Sunday, daytime
- Insurance
- PI and public liability insurance
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Last updated
- 27 October 2026
Different roofs, different checks
Chimney stacks
A stack stands exposed above the roof line. We check the pots, the flaunching, the pointing and the flashings, as far as we can see them safely.
Gutters and parapets
A butterfly roof drains to a central valley gutter, usually to the back of the house. If yours does, we check that gutter and where it drains.
When you need someone else
Without opening up the roof, some things stay hidden, so a survey has limits:
- The condition of the rest of the house (that’s a RICS home survey)
- What’s under the slates, tiles or felt
- Whether materials contain asbestos (that needs a specialist asbestos surveyor)
Not sure which survey suits your roof? You can call 07833 053749 or email us and we’ll tell you. What our survey covers.
What this survey covers
- The roof space
- Natural slate
- Chimney stacks
- Clay and concrete tiles
- Flat-roofed extensions and dormers
- Gutters and downpipes
- Lead flashings and valleys
Before and after the survey
Some practical points come up on survey after survey. They apply to most roofs:
- Let us know your exchange date when booking
- Request records of any re-roofing
- Do not leave it until just before exchange
- Look for fresh paint on upstairs ceilings at viewings
If the report shows work is needed, you can raise it with the seller or agent. Some buyers ask for repairs before completion, others ask for a change to the price. What happens next is your decision and the seller’s.
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.
Towns and villages near Riddlesdown
Other services in Riddlesdown
Should I look at the roof myself first?
After strong wind, take a look from the pavement or garden: pieces of tile or slate on the ground, a gap in the ridge or a lifted flashing are all worth noting. Don’t go up yourself.
It’s useful to keep a record: dates of leaks, photos from ground level and any work done on the roof. Send it with your enquiry.
Buying a home or a new roof in Riddlesdown
Alongside Victorian and Edwardian terraces, outer London has a great many interwar semis, often with hipped roofs of clay or concrete tiles. Bay roofs, hip ridges and dormers from later loft conversions are the details that set these houses apart. Whether you are buying or checking new roofing work, knowing the materials helps make sense of what the inspection finds. The wider area around Riddlesdown has a long history of building, with Addington Palace about 3 miles north-east. On older houses around here, roofs often carry the marks of earlier repairs, from replaced slates to new lead, and a listed home or one in a conservation area may need consent for changes of material.
Take an older house close to St Edmund's Church: the roof may have had decades of patch repairs, and the survey shows where they are. Controlled parking zones are common in London, so mention any permit rules for Riddlesdown, along with any off-street space. If you own a rental within reach of Riddlesdown station, the roof is worth checking before you add another property to a portfolio or pay a roofer in full.
Riddlesdown is about 1 mile east of Purley, in Greater London. We carry out pre-purchase roof surveys for householders, landlords and businesses in Riddlesdown. Riddlesdown is one of the towns and villages in Greater London we cover for pre-purchase roof surveys. You can also see our page for London.
Pre-purchase roof surveys in CR8 and CR2 work the same way as everywhere else we cover. Local streets include Hyde Road, Lower Road and Famet Avenue, and we cover them all. Being close to the A22, Riddlesdown is easy for us to reach. We also cover Kenley (1 mile south), Sanderstead (1 mile north-east), South Croydon (2 miles north), Hamsey Green (2 miles south-east) and Whyteleafe (2 miles south). Further out, we also cover London (12 miles north), City of Westminster (13 miles north), Marylebone (13 miles north), Kensington (13 miles north), St Pancras (14 miles north) and Shoreditch (13 miles north).
Around Riddlesdown
Typical jobs here are in homes near Riddlesdown Collegiate and Dollypers Hill, among other places. Riddlesdown has its own railway station: Riddlesdown station. Well-known places in the area include Croydon Airport Visitor Centre (2 miles north-west) and Purley War Memorial Hospital (1 mile north-west). Not far away are Duppas Hill and Foxley Wood.
Questions from Riddlesdown
Will parking be an issue for a roof survey in Riddlesdown?
It can be, so it’s useful to let us know about permits, visitor bays or off-street space as you book. The visit is then planned around what’s available.
Is my home in Riddlesdown listed or in a conservation area?
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.
Do I need a roof survey if I’m having a RICS survey?
They do different things. A RICS home survey covers the whole building, while ours looks only at the roof, in more detail. Ours sits alongside a RICS survey rather than replacing it.
How experienced are you?
We have completed more than 5,000 surveys, across 20+ years of surveying roofs, with 98% customer satisfaction.
Which days do you carry out surveys?
Surveys run seven days a week. To arrange a date, call 07833 053749 or email us.
Do you use drones?
Yes, where applicable and safe. We fly a sub-250g drone and we’re a CAA-registered drone operator (Flyer ID and Operator ID). Drone inspection is part of the Drone Roof Survey and the Premium Survey, where applicable.
Can you tell me if my roof has asbestos?
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.
How it works
Every visit follows the same pattern: we hear what you’ve seen, inspect the roof from every safe vantage point, take photographs as we go and record our findings for the written report. Most visits take about one to two hours for a house, and more on a big or complicated roof. London terraces rarely offer a view of the whole roof from one spot, so a visit in Riddlesdown moves between viewpoints: the pavement, upstairs windows, the loft and any safe spot at the back. If other people live in the building, tell us who can let us into the shared parts.
- 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.
- Standard and Premium surveys add the extra checks they include.
- We send the report with recommendations ranked by urgency, ready for you to discuss with the seller or agent.
Getting ready for the survey
- Check pets are kept safely away
- Leave a clear route to the loft
- Have keys ready for side gates, garages or roof access doors
Arrange a survey
For a price for pre-purchase roof surveys in Riddlesdown, call 07833 053749 or send us an email. A few details about the property and the roof help us price the survey accurately.
Read more
How we price pre-purchase roof surveys
When we price a survey, we consider:
- Building height and the viewpoints available
- Extra roofs, like extensions, dormers or garages
- The type of building, from a house to a block or an office
- Chimneys, valleys, parapets and other details
Thermal imaging and drone inspection (where it applies) come with the Premium Survey, from £400 inc. VAT. We will tell you which package suits the questions you have.
Helping us price your survey
To price your survey accurately, we’ll ask about:
- Any marks or damp showing indoors
- The reason for the survey, such as buying, a leak or storm damage
- What kind of property and roof it is
- Pictures from the garden or a window, if you have them
We confirm the price for the job before you book, so you know where you stand. Pre-purchase roof survey starts from £150, including VAT. To book, ring 07833 053749 or send us an email.