Surveys & Valuations
A chartered surveyor’s view of your property
Most estate agents give you a price. A chartered surveyor tells you what the building is actually worth — and, just as importantly, what condition it’s in. Those are different questions, and the answers matter at different points in a sale.
Bailey Bird & Warren is a firm of RICS regulated chartered surveyors as well as estate agents. Our co-founder, Andrew Warren, has been valuing and surveying property in Norfolk for over twenty-five years. If you’re buying a home, selling one, settling an estate, or simply need an independent professional valuation for any reason, we can help.
We carry out three main types of work. If you’re not sure which one applies to your situation, give us a call — we’ll point you in the right direction without charging you for the conversation.
Homebuyer Reports
For most buyers, on most homes built in the last hundred years or so.
A Homebuyer Report is the RICS Level 2 survey. It’s the right choice for the majority of conventional houses and flats in reasonable condition — what most people are buying, most of the time.
You’ll get a clear, traffic-light-rated report covering the condition of the property’s main elements (roof, walls, windows, services, and so on), any urgent or significant defects, and the implications for you as a buyer. It’s enough to know what you’re committing to, what’ll need attention in the first few years, and whether anything found should change your offer or your decision.
A Homebuyer Report typically takes two to three hours on site and is delivered in writing within a week. Fees depend on the property’s size and value — please contact us for a quote.
Building Surveys
For older properties, unusual construction, or buildings you’re planning to alter.
A Building Survey is the RICS Level 3 — the most thorough of the standard residential surveys. It’s the right choice when the property is older (broadly pre-1900, though it depends), built of less conventional materials (timber-framed, flint, cob, thatched, or barn conversions, all of which we see plenty of in North Norfolk), structurally complex, in poor or unknown condition, or about to undergo significant work.
A Building Survey covers everything a Homebuyer Report does, in considerably more detail, and includes commentary on construction methods, repair priorities, and likely future maintenance. It takes longer on site, runs to a longer report, and costs more — which makes sense for a £600,000 character cottage in ways it might not for a 1990s semi.
If you’re not sure whether a property needs a Building Survey or a Homebuyer Report, give us a call. We’ll tell you honestly.
RICS Valuations
For probate, matrimonial proceedings, Help to Buy, Capital Gains Tax, and other formal requirements.
Not every valuation is for a sale. A great many of the valuations we carry out are independent, written reports prepared to RICS standards for legal and financial purposes — situations where an estimate from a portal or a sales agent simply isn’t acceptable.
We regularly produce valuations for:
- Probate. Establishing the value of a property at the date of death for inheritance tax purposes.
- Matrimonial proceedings. Independent valuations for divorce settlements, prepared on a Red Book basis where required.
- Help to Buy redemption. Valuations meeting the specific requirements of the Help to Buy scheme.
- Capital Gains Tax. Historic valuations and current market valuations for CGT calculations.
- Shared ownership staircasing, lease extensions, and other formal property transactions.
These valuations are prepared in writing, signed by a RICS regulated surveyor, and stand up to scrutiny from solicitors, HMRC, and the courts.
Why use Bailey Bird & Warren
Most people don’t choose a surveyor often, and when they do, the criteria that matter are straightforward: are they properly qualified, do they know the local market, and will they actually do the work themselves rather than passing it down the line?
We are RICS regulated, both as a firm and through Andrew’s personal membership. Andrew has been surveying in Norfolk since 1999, became a partner in 2008, and co-founded Bailey Bird & Warren in 2015. He carries out the survey work personally. He has walked through more North Norfolk properties than most people have driven past.
If you’re not sure whether you need a survey, what kind, or whether we’re the right firm to do it, please get in touch. We’d rather have a fifteen-minute phone call and send you elsewhere than take on work that isn’t right for you.