Greater London · London and the South East
Pre-Purchase Roof Survey in Upper Holloway
Find out what’s going on with the roof before you spend money on it. Pre-purchase roof surveys in Upper Holloway.
- Cracked flaunching or crumbling chimney pointing
- Flashings that have lifted or split
- Standing water on a flat extension roof
Pre-purchase roof surveys for homes and businesses in Upper Holloway
If you’re 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 often passed on through the service charge. We look at as much of the roof as access safely allows, and the report gives you clear points to raise with your solicitor or the managing agent. Where the building has a flat roof, it’s checked as far as access allows. Common reasons to book are chimney mortar that has eroded and standing water on a flat extension roof, across gutters and downpipes, the roof space and chimney stacks.
In London, lots of houses have been split into flats, extended or fitted with a dormer loft conversion. Each change adds roof details, like flat roofs, new flashings and junctions with the original slopes. For a purchase in Upper Holloway, or for new roofing work there, those junctions deserve a proper look. Lead work around dormers and new flat roofs is easy to get wrong and easy to miss.
Pictures do a lot of the work in our reports, so you can see each defect rather than just read about it. If something couldn’t be seen safely, the report is clear about it.
- Location
- Upper Holloway (N19, N7, N6)
- Region
- Greater London
- Price
- From £150 inc. VAT
- Reports
- Emailed report with photos and recommendations
- When we survey
- Weekdays and weekends
- Insurance
- PI and public liability insurance
- Telephone
- 07833 053749
- Page updated
- 27 October 2026
What we do, step by step
Once we’ve finished looking, we write up our findings in a report with photographs, sent to you by email. On timing, it normally takes between one and two hours for most houses, and longer for a large or complex roof. London terraces rarely offer a view of the whole roof from one spot, so in Upper Holloway we work round the house, using the street, the windows, the loft and any safe vantage point behind it. Shared stairs or a basement flat? Tell us who holds the keys.
- After your offer is agreed, you book and share your timetable.
- Access to the house and the roof space is agreed beforehand.
- We start outside, looking at the roof from the ground and from vantage points.
- Inside, we check the roof space and look at the roof from windows.
- The report is emailed with photos and recommendations, ready to use before exchange.
Before the survey
- Keep pets in another room
- Agree roof access with the managing agent if it is shared
- If you are buying, check with the agent that we can get in
How to book
If you have photos of the roof, send them over. Pictures from ground level or a window are fine; never climb up to get a better view. To get started, phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form.
Advice
What this survey cannot tell you
Some things can’t be seen without opening up the roof, so a survey has limits:
- How a seller will respond, or what the house is worth
- Faults hidden behind ceilings, boards or coverings
- Structural calculations (that’s a structural engineer’s job)
Not sure which survey suits your roof? You can phone 07833 053749 or use the contact form and we’ll tell you. What our survey covers.
What we look at
- Chimney stacks
- Natural slate
- Clay and concrete tiles
- Flat-roofed extensions and dormers
- Gutters and downpipes
- The roof space
- Lead flashings and valleys
Do you need a pre-purchase roof survey in Upper Holloway?
Buildings put up or refurbished before 2000 may contain asbestos. Cement roof sheets, soffits and flue pipes are typical places to find it. We do not test for it or carry out asbestos surveys, but we flag materials that might and suggest a specialist asbestos surveyor checks them before work starts.
A survey makes sense if you’ve noticed:
- Cracked flaunching or crumbling chimney pointing
- Ponding, blisters or splits on a flat roof
- A ridge or slope that dips
- Bitumen or mortar used in place of proper repairs
For landlords with property near Upper Holloway station, the roof is worth checking before you add another property to a portfolio or pay a roofer in full.
Before booking any roof surveyor
- Are they insured for the work?
- What exactly goes into their report
- Whether the price includes VAT
- Their track record with similar roofs
Questions from Upper Holloway
Is drone flying allowed in Upper Holloway?
It depends on the exact address and the weather on the day. Across London there are restriction zones around Heathrow, London City and London Heliport, plus restricted areas over Hyde Park, the City of London and the Isle of Dogs. Every London address is checked against them before a flight. Every flight is checked against the Drone Safety Map first, including zones around airports and prisons. A small drone cannot fly safely in high wind or heavy rain, though the rest of the survey goes ahead either way.
Is my home in Upper Holloway listed or in a conservation area?
Start with Historic England’s list for listing and your council for conservation areas. It is worth checking before planning roof work, as both can affect what’s allowed.
Can you survey a shared roof?
Yes. A shared roof needs access agreed first, with whoever owns or manages the building. Tell us about it as you book and we will plan the survey around it.
Do you test for asbestos?
No. Asbestos surveys and sampling are not something we do. The report may flag materials that could contain asbestos on buildings built or refurbished before 2000.
Will you climb onto the roof?
Only where it is safe to do so. Much of the inspection is done from the ground, from windows and from the loft space. The Premium Survey adds a drone inspection where applicable.
Is your roof survey a RICS survey?
No. It is a roof survey by an experienced roof surveyor, and you get a written report with photos. It does not cover the rest of the property, which a RICS survey does.
Do you carry professional indemnity insurance?
Professional indemnity and public liability insurance cover our surveys. If you need details for a managing agent or a building owner, just ask.
Practical tips
Here are a few things we’d tell any owner:
- Find out whether the roof has been replaced or patched
- Tell us your exchange date when you book
- Do not leave it until just before exchange
- Ask whether there are papers for past roof work
We email the report to you, with photos of each finding. Turnaround is within 48 hours for Basic, 24 to 48 hours for Standard and the same day for Premium. Findings are set out in plain English, with recommendations prioritised by urgency where relevant.
Keep an eye on chimneys and flashings in your new home. Look for leaning pots, missing mortar and lifted lead. Binoculars from ground level are enough for a first look.
Nearby places to Upper Holloway
More services for Upper Holloway
Why it’s worth a survey now in Upper Holloway
The lender’s valuation is done for the lender, not for you. It looks at whether the property is suitable security for the loan, not at the condition of each slate and flashing. Our survey is done for you. Many older London roofs have only old felt under the slates, or no underlay at all, so once the slates or flashings let water past, little stops it reaching ceilings. Left alone, that means wet timbers and plaster, which is a far bigger job than the roof fault itself.
There are three survey packages: Basic from £150, Standard from £250 and Premium from £400, all inc. VAT. The price for your roof depends on its size, access and what you need to know.
Why us?
- PI and public liability insurance
- Every finding written up with photos
- Visits on any day of the week
- Packages from £150, inc. VAT
What affects the price in Upper Holloway
When we price a survey, we consider:
- The shape of the roof and its details
- How big the roof is
- House, block, shop or office
- How tall the building is and how easy the roof is to see
Prices start from £150, with VAT included, for a Basic Survey. Standard is from £250 and Premium from £400, both inc. VAT. You’ll know the exact price before booking.
Getting in touch
To price your survey accurately, we’ll ask about:
- The type of building and roof, such as pitched or flat
- Any deadline, such as an exchange date
- How the loft is reached, if there is one
- Where any leaks, stains or damp patches show inside
Every survey is priced before it is booked, so you know where you stand. Pre-purchase roof survey starts from £150, including VAT. To book, call 07833 053749 or drop us an email.
Buying a home or a new roof in Upper Holloway
If your survey includes the drone, we check the Drone Safety Map for restrictions before flying. Historic houses such as Witanhurst, about 0.9 miles west, show how far back building in the area around Upper Holloway goes. Older roofs in the wider area can hide decades of patch repairs, so the detail matters.
If your house is among the older ones in the streets near St Andrew's Whitehall Park, a survey will show how the roof has been repaired before, which helps you judge what’s coming. Controlled parking zones are common in London, so mention any permit rules for Upper Holloway, along with any off-street space.
Upper Holloway is about 2 miles east of Hampstead, in Greater London. We carry out pre-purchase roof surveys in Upper Holloway for houses, flats, blocks and commercial buildings. Our Greater London coverage includes Upper Holloway.
Here we cover the N19, N7 and N6 postcode area for pre-purchase roof surveys. Streets in the area include Ward Road, Kiver Road and Foxham Road. Upper Holloway sits on or near the A103, so getting to you is simple. Other places close to Upper Holloway include Tufnell Park (1 mile south), Dartmouth Park (1 mile south-west), Highgate (1 mile north-west), Nag's Head (1 mile south-east) and Holloway (1 mile south-east). Within a short drive, we also cover London (5 miles south), City of Westminster (4 miles south), Marylebone (3 miles south), Kensington (5 miles south-west), St Pancras (3 miles south) and Shoreditch (4 miles south-east).
Landmarks near Upper Holloway
Typical jobs here are in homes near City of London Academy, Whittington Park and The Mother Red Cap pub, among other places. Also close by are Asanté Academy of Chinese Medicine (1.2 miles north-west) and Vaughan Williams Memorial Library (2 miles south). Upper Holloway has its own railway station: Upper Holloway station. A little further out are The Mall Wood Green (2.3 miles north-east) and Royal Northern Hospital (0.5 miles south-east). Not far away are Dartmouth Park Hill and Parkland Walk.