Property Surveys in Hartley Wintney

It depends on the level of survey and the size and age of the property. We quote in writing before the inspection is booked so there is no ambiguity about scope.

A survey commissioned by the seller is prepared for the seller. Unless it is formally assigned to you, you have no standing to rely on it, and its scope may not cover the things you care about.

Yes. Hartley Wintney is fully within our normal working area for property surveys, from the High Street, the cricket green, Phoenix Green and West Green through to the surrounding streets. High Street loading is restricted and the frontages are directly on the pavement, so scaffold licences and delivery timing are usually settled before anything else on a village centre project.

Yes. Alongside Hartley Wintney we regularly work in Fleet and Yateley, and across the wider Hampshire border area from our office in Fleet. Bear in mind that some of those neighbouring towns sit under a different council to Hartley Wintney, so the planning and building control route can change from one to the next even over a short distance.

It can. Across Hartley Wintney the underlying ground is commonly London Clay with gravel cappings on the higher ground, and that has a bearing on foundation depth, on how a new bearing is detailed, and on how close to mature trees a foundation can sensibly go. That is a general description of the area rather than a statement about any particular plot, so where foundations are involved we design against what an investigation on the site actually shows.

Damp related issues, roof covering and flashing wear, movement historic enough to be stable, and previous alterations carried out without adequate structural support are all frequent findings on period stock.

Yes. The village centre is a conservation area with a significant number of listed buildings along the High Street, so internal alterations to an older property can need listed building consent as well as building regulations approval. Where any of that applies to a property, permitted development cannot be assumed, and on a listed building even internal alterations can need consent. We establish which of these apply to your address at the start, because it can change the structural solution as well as the paperwork.

Yes. A survey after purchase is common where a defect has appeared, where an alteration is planned, or where a previous owner's work needs assessing before further work is designed.

The High Street frontage is largely terraced and historic, so a project there frequently involves both an adjoining owner and a heritage consideration at the same time. If the property is semi detached or terraced, or if the foundations for any new element sit close to a boundary, the Party Wall etc. Act 1996 is likely to apply and notice has to be served before work starts. We can confirm the position once we have seen the property, and serve the notices as part of the same project rather than leaving you to arrange it separately.

Hartley Wintney falls under Hart District Council. It is the local planning authority, with Hampshire County Council above it for highways matters such as skip permits and any scaffold that reaches the pavement. That matters because a set of calculations and drawings has to be submitted to the authority that actually covers the address, and on this patch the boundaries run close together, so neighbouring towns can sit with entirely different councils.