RICS Level 3 Building Survey Borehamwood

Our RICS Level 3 survey is a detailed visual inspection of all accessible parts of the property. We look at the roof from ground level and, where access allows, the loft space, walls, floors, windows, external joinery, visible drainage points, internal finishes and the general structural form. On a Borehamwood home this might mean a 1930s semi near Shenley Road, a converted flat in WD6, or a later extension added to an older house near Green Street. We note the construction, the materials in use, the defects we can see, and the repairs that need attention now rather than later.

The report also explains the consequences of leaving defects alone. That matters on homes with ageing roofs, tired pointing, damp ingress, timber decay, movement or poor alterations, because small problems can become expensive if they are left untouched. Our surveyors do not open up floors, lift carpets, cut into walls or run a drainage CCTV survey as part of the standard inspection. They also do not test electrical, gas or plumbing systems in the way a specialist engineer would. If a defect needs another trade, our report says so plainly and points you towards the next step.

• Accessible roof structure and loft space
• Visible walls, floors and ceilings
• External defects and roof coverings
• Follow-up advice for specialist inspections

Borehamwood has a broad housing mix rather than a single house type, and that shows up in the kind of defects we expect to see. Home.co.uk records 297 sales from January 2025 to October 2025, with flats, terraced houses and semis making up most of that activity, so our surveyors often deal with tight roof spaces, modest loft access and later alterations to originally simple layouts. Around Shenley Road and Green Street, the work may involve checking extension junctions, flat roof coverings, old sealant lines and the condition of external finishes. None of that is dramatic on paper. It becomes expensive when it is ignored.

We did not find a verified area-wide geology note for Borehamwood, so we avoid pretending there is a single shrink-swell or mining story for every street. The sensible approach is to assess the property in front of us. On older homes, that means looking for settlement cracks, failed pointing, damp penetration at low level, timber decay and signs that the building has moved over time. On flats in WD6, it can mean checking visible evidence of water ingress, roof drainage issues and defects in balconies, communal walls or parapets that the buyer will inherit through service charges.

Newer schemes are part of the local picture too. Lyndhurst Farm, approved for 186 new homes at the corner of Green Street and Stapleton Road, includes 38 one-bedroom, 57 two-bedroom, 73 three-bedroom and 18 four-bedroom homes, while Hertsmere Mews off Shenley Road was completed in June 2021 with 306 homes sold or rented out before completion. Land West of Vale Avenue, under planning reference 25/1615/FUL, proposes 98 homes with 50% affordable housing. Newer stock brings different checks, such as insulation gaps, drainage layout, roof ventilation and incomplete snagging. A Level 3 survey still matters where the finish looks new but the build or the detail does not feel right.

Borehamwood also has a working-town feel around Elstree Studios, which remains a significant local employer. That matters because demand is not driven by one housing type alone. The result is a patchwork of 32.0% flats, 29.2% terraced homes, 28.4% semi-detached homes and about 3.0% bungalows in the wider Elstree & Borehamwood area. Our surveyors use that mix as a clue, not as an assumption. The clues in the masonry, roof and joinery still decide the report.

• Roof coverings nearing end of life
• Cracking or movement around extensions
• Damp staining at low level or around openings
• Decayed timber, failing sealants and poor drainage detail