Choose the report for the Dulwich decision
Choose according to construction, alterations, condition and the purpose of your instruction.
- RICS Level 2 Home Survey — a conventional home in reasonable condition, without significant complexity.
- RICS Level 3 Building Survey — an older, altered, unusual or complex home needing a fuller investigation of condition.
- Specific defect investigation — a defined concern such as damp, cracking or water ingress.
- Pre-acquisition commercial building survey — condition and technical risk for a commercial purchase or lease.
Send the address, plans and your concerns so the proposed service, inspection limits and fee can be confirmed before instruction.
Village evidence: compact streets and more spacious house plots
Southwark’s Dulwich Village appraisal distinguishes the closer layout of Pickwick, Aysgarth and Boxall Roads from the more spacious Edwardian and Arts and Crafts houses on Burbage Road. It identifies particularly small gardens on Boxall Road within that comparison. The earlier passage records eighteenth-century houses with generous gardens on Dulwich Village itself. These examples concern the Village character areas covered by the February 2006 appraisal.
Use the actual plot drawing to locate the house and later additions. Describe the access and structures offered for inspection at that property; the street comparison supplies context without establishing its present condition or permissions.
Dulwich building stock and property types
Dulwich’s housing runs from Georgian village frontages to post-war modernism, much of it older, altered or Estate-controlled — which is why Level 3 is so often right here.
Georgian and early-Victorian listed frontages on Dulwich Village and Calton Avenue, and large Victorian and Edwardian villas on College Road and Dulwich Common among the Grade II* landmarks.
Dense late-Victorian bay-fronted brick terraces around Lordship Lane and the Bellenden and North Cross grid, typically two storeys with back additions and frequent alterations.
The 1950s–1970s modernist townhouses and low-rise flats around Dulwich Wood Park, Frank Dixon Way, Peckarmans Wood and Ferrings, with mono-pitch and flat roofs, timber cladding and large glazing.
Victorian and Edwardian semis and villas along Rosendale Road, Croxted Road and Alleyn Park on the Southwark/Lambeth boundary, plus 1900s–1930s houses around Turney Road and Burbage Road with cavity-transitional brickwork.
Conservation areas, listed buildings and alteration risk
Substantial parts of Dulwich fall within the Dulwich Village Conservation Area, one of Southwark’s largest and most significant. It holds important listed buildings, among them Dulwich Picture Gallery (Grade II*, Sir John Soane, 1811–14), the Dulwich College buildings on College Road (Grade II*, Charles Barry Jr, 1870), Bell House (Grade II*), the Old College and Christ’s Chapel almshouse group, and the working College Road toll gate on the Dulwich Estate. For the SE21 and SE22 core the London Borough of Southwark is the authority for planning, conservation and listed building consent — not Lambeth or Lewisham — though at the West Dulwich and Herne Hill fringe some addresses fall into Lambeth, so confirm the council and conservation area by postcode. For a Dulwich house, distinguish the historic building, later extension and garden structure when assembling the available permission records.
Dulwich carries a second layer of control buyers frequently overlook: the Dulwich Estate Scheme of Management. Made in 1974 under section 19 of the Leasehold Reform Act 1967 when former estate leaseholders bought their freeholds, it lets the Dulwich Estate — the charity linked to Alleyn’s College of God’s Gift and the Dulwich schools — retain powers over many freehold houses. Owners must obtain the Estate’s separate prior written consent, on top of any council permission, before works affecting external appearance: extensions and elevational changes, roof and window alterations, external materials, repainting in colours in harmony with the vicinity, boundary walls and gates, hardstanding, and tree works. That consent is separate from Southwark planning permission and listed building consent — you can need one without the other, and Estate consent is sometimes required where planning permission is not, such as a paint-colour change. Match council and estate correspondence to the specific project and ask the solicitor to establish the applicable consent position.
Put a smaller plot’s extension and drainage route together
For a Dulwich purchase on one of the more closely arranged Village streets, show the original rear wall, later kitchen and remaining garden on a plan. Label the side or rear route through which the outside of the addition can be reached. A room layout alone may leave the junction and drainage route unclear.
Request the available extension drawings and any investigation that names a particular wall or drain. Date those documents separately from interior decoration invoices. If a roof, boundary or shared passage needs access from another property, identify that arrangement when the scope is discussed rather than assuming access from the road.
Keep a larger house and its garden buildings in separate records
Where the Dulwich purchase includes a substantial house plot, distinguish the principal building, converted outbuilding and independent garden structure. Outline the rooms and external elements intended for the survey. State whether a later link or added room joins two originally separate parts.
Ask the seller to attach repair and alteration papers to each structure, with the relevant project date and access information. A house restoration account may leave the outbuilding’s roof or foundations unexplained. Locate reported movement or water entry at its actual building and room before deciding what further evidence should be requested.
Connect council and estate papers to the same alteration
If the Dulwich seller supplies council permissions and estate correspondence, organise them by project: extension, roof change, new opening or boundary work. Put the address, described works and dated plan beside each document. A letter about one stage of a project should be identified as such in the file.
Ask the solicitor to establish which permissions and private controls apply to this property and change. The physical enquiry can then identify the construction shown, the work visible and any unresolved discrepancy. Keep the source of each decision clear while preserving the separate chronology of construction, permissions and later repairs.
Dulwich building survey questions
Does the Dulwich Village appraisal describe every plot alike?
It distinguishes compact streets from more spacious house settings and compares their gardens. The bought plot’s own layout establishes its buildings, access and additions.
What helps with an extension on a smaller Village plot?
Show the original back wall, addition and drainage route together. Identify the outside access and connect dated drawings or investigations to their actual junctions.
Should an outbuilding share the main house’s repair file?
Give each structure its own scope and dated records, identifying later links between them. The principal building’s restoration papers may not cover the separate structure.
How can council and estate letters be compared?
Group both by the precise project and plan they concern. The solicitor can establish the applicable requirements and identify missing decisions for that property.
Dulwich Building Survey Quote & Fee Estimator (From £550 plus VAT)
Content updated: October 2026.
Other Dulwich surveying services
Need a RICS survey quote in Dulwich? We confirm a fixed fee after scoping. Call 020 7101 4590, email enquiries@hampsteadcharteredsurveyors.co.uk, or inspect our redacted RICS Level 3 sample reports. Sample reports.