RICS Level 2 Survey in BA6

Glastonbury and the villages in BA6 have a housing mix unlike most of Somerset. The town centre and older streets contain Victorian terraces and Georgian townhouses built from Blue Lias limestone - a beautiful silvery-grey stone quarried locally from Street and Keinton Mandeville. Older farmhouses and rural cottages in Baltonsborough and Butleigh were often built from Torr Burr rubble stone, with some cob or mud-wall construction surviving in ancillary buildings. Further out, post-war estates and 1960s-1980s semis fill in the gaps, and Galion Ltd. has active new-build developments bringing modern construction into Baltonsborough and Butleigh.

Blue Lias limestone gives BA6 its distinctive character, but it also presents survey challenges. The stone is typically laid as rubble rather than dressed ashlar, which means walls rely on lime mortar bedding and pointing to shed water. When that lime mortar fails - as it does in many properties over 60 years old - water penetrates the wall thickness and damp spreads inward. Our inspectors check pointing condition on every accessible elevation, looking for open joints, failed rendering, and historic cement repointing that has locked in moisture behind it.

Thatch is still present on some older rural properties in BA6, and while it has not been replaced wholesale, partial re-ridging and patching can conceal underlying issues. Our Level 2 survey notes thatch condition where visible from ground level, flags any sections that appear thin or sunken, and recommends specialist thatch inspection where we cannot assess fully from a standard vantage point.

• Blue Lias rubble-stone walls with lime mortar - check pointing condition and damp penetration
• Victorian terrace bay windows in Glastonbury - inspect lintels, renders, and any settlement cracking
• Cob or mud-wall outbuildings - assess base course, plinth height, and roof overhang
• 1970s cavity-wall construction in Butleigh and Baltonsborough estates - inspect for cavity wall insulation issues
• Thatch roofing on isolated rural properties - note visible condition and flag for specialist inspection if needed
• Pre-1939 properties without damp-proof courses - expect rising damp to be present at ground floor level

Our RICS Level 2 survey follows the RICS Home Survey Standard and covers every accessible part of the property. We carry damp meters, binoculars for roof inspection, a torch and probe for timber condition checks, and a spirit level for floor assessment. In BA6, where older rubble-stone construction is common, we pay particular attention to moisture penetration at wall bases and in ground floor timbers, which are highly susceptible to rising damp in properties without a functioning damp-proof course.

We inspect the roof structure, covering materials, chimneys, valleys, and guttering from the property boundary and from within the loft space where access is available. In the loft, we check rafter condition, insulation, any signs of moisture ingress at the ridge or eaves, and the condition of water storage tanks. For older properties with slate roofs - common in BA6 given the historical use of Welsh slate once the railway arrived - we note any nail fatigue (slipping slates) or torching failure at the underside of the covering.

• Roof structure, covering materials, chimney stacks, and valley gutters
• Loft space - rafters, insulation, water tanks, and signs of moisture
• External walls - pointing condition, render, cracks, and damp penetration
• Windows and doors - condition, draught sealing, and frame decay
• Internal walls and ceilings - cracks, staining, bulging, and settlement
• Floors - level, bounce, damp at edges, and condition of coverings where visible
• Drainage - inspection covers, visible runs, and signs of blockage or failure
• Electrical, gas, and heating - visual condition note (not a test or certification)
• Grounds - boundaries, retaining walls, outbuildings, and paths

Galion Ltd. has several active developments across BA6 at the time of writing. In Baltonsborough, the Meadow View development includes a range of homes from 3-bedroom semi-detached properties priced from £349,000 up to the 4-bedroom St Dunstan's House at £700,000. In Butleigh, Galion has planning approval for two further developments - one for up to 32 homes on land east of Sub Road (construction expected to begin by spring 2026), and another for 37 homes on Baltonsborough Road on the north-eastern edge of the village. Both Butleigh schemes include an affordable housing element.

Many buyers assume new builds do not need a survey. That is not our recommendation. New builds carry a different set of risks to older properties: incomplete snagging (minor defects left by the developer's workforce), drainage connections not yet fully bedded in, shrinkage cracking as the structure dries out, and the risk of specification downgrades from what was shown in the sales brochure. Our snagging survey is specifically designed for new builds and can be carried out before legal completion, when you still have leverage over the developer to fix defects at their cost.

For Galion's sites in Butleigh, the localised flooding concerns raised during planning mean we would also recommend a detailed check of the drainage strategy on site before exchange - particularly for any ground floor property on the lower end of the development.