RICS Level 3 Building Survey in Hungerford

Our RICS-qualified building surveyors carry out the most detailed visual survey available through the RICS Home Survey Standard. On a Hungerford High Street property, or a later house off Bridge Street, we inspect the accessible roof space, floors, walls, chimney stacks, rainwater goods and visible services, then record how the building is put together. That matters in a town where timber-frame origins, later brickwork and modern alterations can sit side by side.

On older homes in Charnham Street or a listed cottage near the Kennet, the report explains defects in plain language. We say what is urgent, what should be monitored and what is likely to cost more if it is left alone. If we see failed pointing, slipped tiles, staining around openings or signs of movement, we describe the likely cause and the practical next step, not just the symptom.

This is still a visual inspection, so it does not involve lifting carpets, cutting back finishes, opening floors, drilling into walls or carrying out a drainage CCTV survey. It does not test boilers, electrics or plumbing either. Where a defect suggests movement, damp ingress or hidden failure, our surveyors will recommend a specialist follow-up such as a structural engineer, damp consultant, electrician, gas engineer or drainage contractor.

• No destructive opening up
• No lifting carpets or floor coverings
• No drainage CCTV
• No tests of electrics, gas or plumbing

Hungerford's older streets are not a single building story. The High Street still holds timber-frame origins that were modernised in the 18th and early 19th centuries into brick and tile, and some plots retain mathematical tiles or Bath stone from after the Kennet & Avon Canal opened in 1810. At 85 & 86 High Street, a cruck-frame survives in the local record, which is exactly the sort of fabric that rewards a Level 3 because repairs can hide in plain sight.

Roofs here need a patient eye. Some homes still carry the pitch that once suited thatch, typically 45-55°, even where later tile or slate has replaced the original covering, and older lime mortars can fail when cement pointing has been added. That can leave you with trapped moisture, timber decay or staining around chimneys and parapets, especially where the building was altered without matching the original materials.

Ground conditions matter too. To the north and south of Hungerford lie cretaceous chalk, while the valley bottom includes alluvial ground with pockets of gravels and London clay, so movement and moisture can present in different ways from one street to the next. The town has a severe flood risk score of 82, and the River Kennet, River Dun and River Shalbourne at Hungerford and Eddington are flood warning areas, with historic flooding on Charnham Street and Bridge Street recorded in 1894, 1932 and 1954. Improved dredging and water extraction have helped since the 1950s, but a survey still needs to look for damp, decay and past water ingress.

Planning is still changing here. The draft Neighbourhood Plan passed a referendum on 27 November 2025 and allocates a 0.55ha site for 12 dwellings, while the Chestnut Walk conversion shows how the town is also reusing older buildings for housing need. That sits beside a population of 5,869, 2,695 households and a household age profile where 29% were aged over 65 in 2021, projected to rise to 48% by 2036. In that sort of market, the state of the roof, the structure and the drainage can matter more than décor.

• Timber decay in older frames
• failed mortar or cement render on breathable walls
• slipped or tired roof coverings
• cracking linked to old footings or clay movement
• damp after historic flooding or poor drainage