A RICS Level 2 Home Survey may suit conventional construction in reasonable condition. Discuss an older, unusual or substantially altered property, or plans for major work, before choosing the level. Compare the Level 3 brief for Eltham.
Progress Estate evidence: cottage groups and varied roof forms
For an Eltham house on the Progress Estate, identify the purchased cottage group and its own roof and entrance details. Include any later rear rooms or changed layout. Related estate designs still differ in gables, slopes and porches, so a neighbouring house’s repair schedule should not replace the address-specific brief.
Greenwich’s Progress Estate appraisal describes individually arranged cottage groups with two-floor scale, winding layouts and variations in gables and swept roofs. Its architectural account records low-eaves windows, dormers, expressed chimney stacks, roughcast finishes, porch canopies and hanging slate or clay tiles. These are features of the named estate’s historic design, with deliberate variation between groups.
For a purchase there, show the particular roof slopes, entrances and present room arrangement. Ask for the house’s own alteration papers. A design relationship with another cottage does not establish the condition or complete repair history of this one.
A Progress Estate cottage needs its own roof arrangement described before an Eltham Level 2 quotation is compared with one for a neighbouring house. The source records deliberate variation in gables, dormers and roof forms. Locate the bought rooms below those slopes and identify any later roof alteration on the available drawings. A low-eaves window or porch canopy is a component to understand, not evidence of a defect. Conventional construction in reasonable condition may suit Level 2; a complex or substantially changed layout can require a fuller Level 3 discussion.
Identify the low eaves beside the upper rooms
For a Progress Estate cottage with low roof edges, show the upstairs rooms, eaves void and dormer positions on the available section. Identify which slope and outlet a repair account names. Put a reported ceiling stain beneath its actual junction.
Request drawings for an enlarged dormer or altered stair separately from decoration papers. Identify the voids accessible from this house and any place that cannot be entered. A roof-covering schedule should distinguish slate or tile work from the support and connections it may leave outside its description.
Ask the seller to distinguish work to the main covering from a porch, bay or added rear room. Keep the material, location and date attached to each repair record. An account for replacement tiles does not necessarily describe the underlying structure or an adjoining junction. If a concern prompted an earlier investigation, request the complete report and any subsequent work information rather than only the reassuring part of a summary. The historic cottage design cannot answer those property-specific questions.
Give the porch canopy and doorway their own record
Where an Eltham seller describes restored entrance details, ask for the earlier photograph, work specification and date for that doorway. Mark the canopy, supports and window beside it on the drawing. Identify whether the project repaired an existing element or introduced a changed arrangement.
Put the relevant decision papers with that work where applicable. A door design elsewhere in the cottage group should not be substituted for the purchased house’s records. If an entrance leak has been reported, locate the affected surface and the covering or joint discussed in the investigation.
If the home is leasehold or shares an element with another dwelling, obtain the relevant responsibility and maintenance information for the solicitor alongside the survey brief. Explain which outside faces and roof spaces can be reached and identify any access controlled by another person. A planned major extension or repair strategy should be stated separately from a concise purchase-condition assessment. These details allow the service level to remain proportionate while avoiding the assumption that related cottage designs share the same alteration history, current condition or agreed inspection boundary.
Locate a later rear room within the cottage plot
For a Progress Estate purchase with an added kitchen or enlarged rear opening, outline the original range and addition on the plan. Label its separate covering and the connection to the older wall. Ask for the drawings and construction date for that project.
Match drainage changes and any reported movement to the addition’s footprint. Identify the side passage or garden route available for an external view. Keep the estate’s historic layout as context while the enquiry identifies the altered component and the missing evidence specific to this cottage.
Level 2 fees for Eltham
Home Survey questions for Eltham
Does the Progress Estate account give every cottage identical details?
It describes deliberate variation in roof, gable and entrance arrangements within related groups. Identify the bought house’s own slopes, layout and project history.
Which information helps with low-eaves accommodation?
Locate upper rooms, dormers and remaining voids on a section. Match repair records to the relevant covering, outlet and accessible roof space.
Can a neighbour’s doorway design establish this house’s restoration?
Request the purchased doorway’s earlier photograph, work description and project papers. Keep nearby designs separate from evidence for the actual alteration.
What should a later cottage extension show?
Mark its footprint, enlarged opening and roof junction, then date construction and drainage documents against those elements. Identify available side and rear access.
Local evidence: Greenwich: Progress Estate Conservation Area Character Appraisal, council register labelled adopted December 2007; RICS home survey guide.
Content updated: October 2026.
Other Eltham surveying services
Need a RICS survey quote in Eltham? 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.