Before you exchange

A period house rewards a specialist survey in a way a new build does not. The seven things worth paying for: damp and timber, drainage, roof covering, electrical condition, party wall status, planning history, and the title itself.

Drains are the one most often skipped and the most expensive to get wrong. A CCTV survey costs a few hundred pounds and has saved two of our buyers this year a five-figure repair.

Title comes last on the list but first in consequence. Check for a missing right of way before you fall in love with the garden.