Level 2 Homebuyers Survey in Forest Hill

For a Forest Hill villa or conversion, identify the purchased floors and the entrance serving them. Include any semi-basement, later stair and infilled space between neighbouring houses. A street view of a substantial villa may leave the present internal division and lower-room access unexplained.

Lewisham’s July 2010 Forest Hill appraisal describes large detached and semi-detached villas in its London Road, Honor Oak Road and adjoining character area. Their usual form includes three-and-a-half storeys with semi-basements. The account of the Dorrell Estate on London Road also records conversions with new stairs inserted between houses and changes to former porch stairs. These descriptions concern that documented villa group.

For a purchase there, use the current floor plan to locate the flat or whole house within its original range. Mark the semi-basement entrance and later connections. Historical conversion details should be compared with the actual building’s documents.

The London Road villa record makes the position of stairs and lower accommodation especially useful in a Forest Hill Level 2 enquiry. Show the acquired rooms within the original house and identify any inserted common stair or altered porch access. A current plan should explain the route into the home without relying on the arrangement next door. Conventional construction in reasonable condition may support Level 2, but a complicated conversion, unusual support arrangement or significant alteration history can require Level 3. The historical account of changes within the villa group does not prove which changes occurred at the purchased address.

Where a Forest Hill flat uses a stair between neighbouring houses, ask for the conversion drawing that shows the stair and the doorway into the dwelling. Identify which landings and enclosing walls are common elements. An entrance described as private may still sit within a larger shared arrangement.

Locate removed or changed earlier stairs on any available historic layout. Ask the managing contact for records of work to the inserted connection and the access they can arrange. Have lease boundaries examined separately so the inspection request does not stand in for legal responsibility.

If the home includes semi-basement accommodation, locate it against the street and garden levels and name the external faces that can be viewed. A lower-floor position alone is not a diagnosis of damp or another defect. Request any investigation or repair account relevant to a particular concern, keeping the component and date attached. For a flat above, identify how its floor, stair and roof relate to the rest of the building. Do not use a record for work in another unit as evidence about the purchased accommodation without that connection.

For lower accommodation in a Forest Hill villa, show the window sill, entrance steps, front area and rear garden at their respective levels. Mark the rooms included in the purchase and the outside surfaces affecting them. Put a reported damp patch on that section with its observation date.

Request the papers for any tanking, drain alteration or changed lower doorway, naming the relevant wall. Identify where stored items or another dwelling restrict a view. The enquiry can then distinguish an actual lower-room concern from the appraisal’s general description of villa forms.

Ask the managing contact for the actual common-part maintenance and proposed-works information, with the solicitor considering responsibility under the lease. The physical survey has its own scope and access limits, so agree the areas to be opened before instruction. If the buyer intends substantial changes or needs a detailed repair strategy, put those objectives alongside the current-condition enquiry. A concise Level 2 report should not be selected on the assumption that it includes designing the next conversion or certifying an inaccessible connection formed during the previous one.

If a villa purchase includes a deep garden, outline the rear addition, boundary structures and any detached building on the seller’s plan. Identify which elements are intended to be included in the inspection. Put a newer kitchen wing’s construction date alongside its junction with the main range.

Request drawings for removed walls and enlarged openings by project rather than relying on a single refurbishment label. If the roof above the added rooms is reached from another flat, name the contact and route. List the gaps in access before treating a restoration account as evidence for unseen parts.