Before exchange
Should You Get a Roof Survey Before Exchange?
Once you exchange contracts, the roof is your problem. A specialist roof survey before exchange gives you the detail to decide with certainty — and the evidence to renegotiate while you still can.
Why before exchange matters
Before exchange, you still have options. You can renegotiate the price, ask the seller to remedy an issue, or walk away. After exchange, the roof and everything wrong with it becomes yours — and so does the cost.
A roof is one of the most expensive parts of a property to put right. A full re-roof on a typical terraced house can run into tens of thousands of pounds, and serious structural issues far more. Knowing the true condition before you commit is one of the most valuable pieces of information you can have at this stage.
What a pre-exchange roof survey covers
Our specialist inspection focuses entirely on the roof and reports on:
- Roof coverings — slates, tiles, membranes and their condition
- Structural elements — rafters, purlins and any distortion or sagging
- Chimneys, flashings, soakers and leadwork
- Valley, parapet and internal gutters
- Loft and internal access where available
- Drone imagery where appropriate to reach inaccessible areas
How the report helps your decision
An independent, photographic report gives you something concrete. If the roof is sound, you proceed with confidence. If genuine defects exist, you can use the findings to renegotiate the price, ask the seller to address the work, or budget for it after completion.
Because we don't sell repairs, the report carries no bias — which makes it credible evidence to share with your conveyancer and, if needed, the seller.
Timing the survey
Our target is a written report within 48 hours of the inspection. That turnaround is designed to fit within a typical purchase timeline, so you have the information in hand before exchange rather than after.
The best time to commission a roof survey is as soon as you have a survey flag, a mortgage concern, or simply want certainty — ideally before you commit to exchange.
Independent by design
We don't sell repairs, so we have no reason to exaggerate. You get an honest report to inform your purchase — nothing more.
Book your survey
Get the roof checked before you commit
From £399, with a photographic report targeted within 48 hours. Tell us the property and your concern — we'll respond within one working day.
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Where is the property?
Questions
Frequently asked
Yes — and that's exactly when it's most useful. Before exchange you still have leverage to renegotiate or withdraw. We target a report within 48 hours to fit your timeline.
Where genuine defects exist, an independent photographic report gives your conveyancer concrete evidence to support a price reduction or ask the seller to remedy the work before completion.
Yes. A RICS Home Survey gives you a broad view of the whole property. Our specialist roof survey complements it by going into far greater detail on the roof alone.
Know what you're buying. Before you buy it.
Independent specialist roof inspection from £399. Report targeted within 48 hours.