The survey never tells your client the cost.
A survey says what is wrong with a house. It does not say what the work will cost. Send us the house. Nick views it with your client, and a budget follows in 24 hours.
Steel framingwalls not yet built
Temporary propsholding the structure
Drainagerouted before the floor
Cablesfirst fix, before plaster
i The survey
A survey can call a house sound and leave the bill blank.
Your client has found the house. The offer is agreed.
The survey reads the building. It does not price the new kitchen, the basement or the rewire.
Surveys reduce uncertainty. They cannot reveal every condition hidden in an older house. Wiring, drainage, floors and earlier alterations often need attention once they are exposed.
Our advice to buyers is simple. Talk to us before you exchange. It matters most if they plan to extend or change the layout.
The survey reads the house. Nobody has read the work.
ii What the work costs
Eight kinds of work, and what each costs in 2026.
Indicative construction ranges for prime London, from our 2026 cost guide. Each bar runs from its low figure to its high one.
Professional fees, statutory costs, party wall, contingency and VAT are separate. Ranges are guide prices, not fixed quotations.
iii Three numbers, in order
A budget now. A price later. Nothing guessed.
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Before exchange
A budget range, in the Buyer’s Report
Nick views the house with your client. What is possible, a budget range and the timescales, within 24 hours. It is a budget, not a quote.
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After exchange
The cost plan, line by line
Our quantity surveyor, Matt Coverley, prices the work from the drawings. Provisional sums are named, not buried.
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Design locked
The build cost, fixed
The cost is fixed once the design team locks the second fix scope. Then one contract.
The same order as our twelve step process, from the budget estimate to the cost plan.
iv For your client
You find the house. We read the work.
You find and negotiate. We set out the budget for the work, and build it if asked.
What is possible
What the house could become.
Extensions, a basement, a new layout. What planning may allow, as possibilities, not promises.
A budget range
From our 2026 rate card.
For the work that house needs. The priced cost plan follows exchange.
On site, as often as needed
No limit on visits.
We return to the house with your client, as often as needed.
Send us the house.
The listing link or the address, and one way to reach you. The Buyer’s Report is free.
Nick has the house.
He will call you to arrange a viewing with your client. The report follows within 24 hours of it.
Read the work before exchange.
Ranges are guide prices, not fixed quotations. Professional fees, statutory costs, party wall, contingency and VAT are separate.