Frequently Asked Questions

Your mortgage lender usually only instructs their surveyor to advise whether a property is a suitable asset for lending purposes. They are not working on your behalf and will not be concerned with most of the aspects of a property that we will inspect and comment upon - however, many of these areas can still impact on your decision to purchase a property, so the question is really, why wouldn't you have an independent survey carried out?

We would always suggest sooner rather than later. Whilst Legal Advisers will often suggest waiting until they are ready to exchange, (and have therefore already incurred most of their fees), often our report will raise further questions or documentation which needs to be supplied by the Vendor; this can often lead to frustrating delays, just as all parties are ready to exchange contracts!

We appreciate that no one wants to have their purchase delayed longer than need be. We strive to provide you with a digital version of your report within 2-3 days, depending on how much there is to tell you! A hard copy can be provided upon request, however, there is an additional fee of £10 payable to cover postage costs.

Some surveyors will fill their reports with loads of photos, just to bulk out the report. At Phoenix Surveyors, we prefer to include photos only where we need to show you where we are talking about or areas of defects. However, we will usually take between 350-500 photos, for a larger property with numerous outbuildings, this can often increase to closer to 1000!

Simply put, the survey will take as long as it takes! Our surveyors only undertake one inspection a day so there's no clock-watching or corner-cutting to rush to another appointment. A survey can take between 2-3 hours on site or up to 7-8 hours, depending on the size of the property, number of outbuildings and/or grounds included within the boundaries.

Wherever possible, we will use a drone or camera pole to inspect roofs, chimneys and boundaries. There is no additional cost to you involved with this supplementary service. However, weather conditions, such as high winds, angry nesting birds or aviation restrictions, such as nearby airports or military installations can affect our ability to be able to offer this additional service.

When you chat with the surveyor after the inspection, he will take the time to answer your questions and talk you through any defects of the property or other important factors such as boundary changes or location. If you still have further questions or require clarification after receiving the report, you are always welcome to request a further conversation with the surveyor to discuss any subsequent queries which may arise.

We have RICS registered valuers who can undertake private valuations and some Help to Buy valuations. We do not act on behalf of mortgage lenders.

These are reports "written" using automated text-fill when "ticking" boxes with little variation or individual input. We prefer to provide each client with a bespoke report, discussing the details and potential defects of each property individually.