RICS Level 3 Building Survey in Hove

A Level 3 survey is the most detailed visual inspection in the RICS Home Survey Standard. We look at all accessible parts of the property, which in Hove can mean a stucco terrace in Brunswick Town, a villa in Cliftonville or a flat with alterations near Hove Station. The report comments on construction, materials, visible defects, repairs needed and maintenance priorities, then explains the likely consequences of leaving those issues alone.

We also note where the building style raises risk. On a seafront property on Kingsway, for example, exposed fixings, parapets, balconies and flat-roof details need careful reading, while an older house in The Avenues may show movement at bay windows, cracked render, damp patches or timber decay around sills. If the surveyor suspects something that needs a specialist opinion, such as movement or hidden moisture, the report will say so plainly.

This is a visual inspection, not a destructive investigation. A Level 3 survey does not open up the fabric of the building, lift carpets, carry out drainage CCTV or test electrical, gas or plumbing systems, so hidden defects behind plaster or under floors can still be missed until a specialist goes in. That is one reason buyers in Hove ask us to survey before exchange, especially where the home sits in a conservation area such as Brunswick Town, Sackville Gardens or Willett Estate.

• Inspection of accessible roof spaces
• External walls, chimneys, gutters and flashings
• Floors, ceilings, windows and doors
• Cellars, lofts and sub-floor voids where reachable
• A clear repair and maintenance summary
• Advice on urgent and long-term defects

Hove's older streets around Brunswick Town, Cliftonville and Adelaide Crescent often bring stucco façades, slate roofs and timber windows, and those details are sensitive to poor maintenance. On terraces around The Avenues or Pembroke & Princes, we often look for cracked render, hidden damp, tired flashings and decay where later alterations have cut across the original fabric. Listed buildings such as Hove Library, Hove railway station and the church buildings around St John the Baptist need even more care, because the repair standard has to suit the building and the planning context.

The seafront changes the defect profile. Kingsway, the frontage by the Peace Statue and the stretch towards the King Alfred Leisure Centre sit in a coastal exposure zone, so salt air, wind-driven rain and corrosion can wear on metal fixings, balcony edges, flat roofs and window seals. Brighton and Hove are also at risk from surface water, groundwater and the sea, and the coastline between Brighton Marina and the River Adur in Shoreham is defended by beaches, chalk cliffs, sea walls and timber groynes. The erosion rate for Brighton and Hove's coastline is currently assessed as minor over the next 100 years, but that still leaves plenty of reason to check ground levels, drainage routes and signs of past flooding.

Different ages leave different clues. Victorian houses can show damp in cellars and party walls, Edwardian bay fronts can move at the corners of openings, 1930s homes may have solid-floor failure or altered roofs, and 1960s additions can reach the end of their flat-roof life. In Hove, that mix appears in one postcode area, from Old Hove through Sackville Gardens to newer schemes near Hove Station such as Moda, Hove Central. A good Level 3 report spells out which defects are urgent, which are budget items and which only need watching.

The scale of change around Sackville Trading Estate matters too. Moda, Hove Central includes 564 new build-to-rent homes, while the separate £50 million Hyde Housing scheme for 306 council flats at the north end of the estate includes 109 one-bedroom, 137 two-bedroom, 58 three-bedroom and two four-bedroom flats. Those projects sit next to a very old housing base, so buyers often move from a modern-looking block straight into a building where lath and plaster, timber joists and original roof coverings still need careful reading.

• Damp in cellars and basements
• Timber decay to sills, joists and roof members
• Slate roof slippage and failed flashings
• Cracking around bay windows and openings
• Flat-roof wear on later extensions
• Corrosion on coastal metalwork