The Education & Skills Funding Agency (ESFA) launched their Condition Data Collection (CDC) programme in early 2017 setting it to run through to Autumn 2019 in five, separate tranches. The CDC is one of the biggest condition data collection exercises in the UK public sector. The aim is to visit every government maintained school in England to collect data about … Read More
The ‘family GP’ for your Church
What are Quinquennial Inspection Reports? Under the Inspection of Churches Measure 1955, as amended by the Care of Churches and Ecclesiastical Jurisdiction Measure 1991, all consecrated buildings of the Church of England must by law be inspected once in every five years by a registered architect or chartered building surveyor (the ‘Quinquennial Inspector’ or QI) who is approved by the … Read More
Trail of Suspicion
Whilst the most detailed survey available, even a full RICS Level 3 Building Survey can leave some questions that require further inspection and can lead to a longer trail of suspicion. We often get asked which sort of survey is required for a particular property. As we only offer Building Surveys, we tend to recommend it where the property is … Read More
Building Defects
As part of our Building Survey report, we summarize any building defects found by our chartered surveyors in an easy to read table, prioritizing them using our traffic light system & adding estimated cost for repairs. With thousands of completed Building Surveys on our server, we thought it would be interesting to take a look at the most common building … Read More
Buying a house at Auction
A property auction can be a great way to snap up a bargain. It is a quick and cost effective method when buying a property. However, it is important that you understand the process and are prepared for the issues that may lie ahead. Before the auction The first step to take is to look on the internet or visit … Read More
What is a mortgage survey?
What is a mortgage survey? When buying a property with a mortgage, most providers will require that you undertake a mortgage survey before lending is approved. The sole aim of this survey is to satisfy the lender that the property you are purchasing has enough value to cover the amount they are lending you. The surveyor will briefly inspect the … Read More
Property Market in 2035
What will the property market look like in 2035? Back in 1995 we were in the early days of the internet, we worked in cubicles and our computers were chunky and powered by Windows 95. There were no touch screen phones or flat screen TVs; people laughed at the idea of reading electronic books, and watching a home movie meant … Read More
Building Surveying – The Chawton Hill Way
We launched our regional building surveying programme nearly 10 months ago & we now cover 8 counties in the South; Surrey, Middlesex, Hampshire, Gloucestershire, Essex, Suffolk, Kent & Sussex. Local building surveyors are being attracted by our full service proposition whereby we generate bookings in a pre-agreed set of postcodes and our HQ team handle all survey administration. This leaves … Read More
Bad neighbour
A lighthearted look at what we think are the 10 most common annoying bad neighbour traits? Happy families! These are the neighbours who think they are on the Jeremy Kyle show most days and are likely to give you a live, up-close episode of their life. Wi-Fi stealers The neighbours that however many times you change your password, they always find … Read More
The case for Property Management
Here at Chawton Hill we have some good experience of working with Property Management company’s and owning income property. Whilst it can be very rewarding and often tempting to retain all of that rental income, property management requires a pretty large commitment of effort and time in the process. Here are some tasks to consider when deciding to go it … Read More
Tips to sell your home
Our top tips to sell your home for the best price. As part of our building survey service, we offer a free walkaround with your surveyor to discuss the property. During this half hour or so discussion, many of our customers mention things like, ‘I just know this is the one’ or ‘it just feels right’. As a home seller, … Read More
New Faces at Chawton Hill
New faces at Chawton Hill – The pace of our recent growth has meant we are a little behind in formally welcoming the latest New Faces at Chawton Hill. It’s been a hectic few months with ongoing project work, pitches for new multi-million pound building schemes and the ongoing expansion of The Chawton Hill Way regional building surveyor programme. The … Read More
999 Emergency Centre – Crawley UPDATE
Back in April 2016 we outlined our project management work at the new SECAmb HQ and 999 Emergency Centre in Crawley. Earlier this month, the Epsom Guardian reported on the latest phase, with Banstead emergency control staff moving to the new centre… Control staff at the Emergency Operations Centre based in The Horseshoe, off Bolters Lane, relocated to the Manor Royal … Read More
Block management
We have carried out a number of building projects with Block Management specialists, White & Sons since we featured them in our Partner Profile just over a year ago. The latest one completed in July, a full month earlier than scheduled, is the re-roofing of a block of flats at Downswood Court East in Reigate. The previous felt roof system … Read More
Meadow Primary opens new school reception area
Meadow Primary school had been living with a traditional and slightly gloomy school reception and were looking for a modern, more welcoming new school reception area design that made better use of the available space and light. Having worked with the school before, Chawton Hill were engaged as Principle Designers and Contract Administrators to deliver the best possible design solution, … Read More
Health and Safety
We are delighted to become CHAS (The Contractors Health and Safety Assessment Scheme) accredited. The scheme was created by experienced health and safety professionals in 1997 to improve health and safety standards across the UK. In partnership with the Association of London Government (ALG), CHAS was a key developer of the core criteria held in the Approved Code of Practice … Read More