If you are buying or own a home in Banbury or north Oxfordshire and want to know its condition before you commit or carry out work, a chartered building surveyor can inspect it and set out its defects, their likely causes and your options for dealing with them. That knowledge lets you budget for repairs, plan alterations with fewer surprises and go into a purchase with a clear view of what you are taking on.
We are Oakfield Surveyors, a firm of RICS chartered surveyors with offices in Oxford, Beaconsfield, Henley-on-Thames, Rickmansworth and London, and we cover Banbury along with the rest of Oxfordshire.
Our surveys are written for the person who has to act on them. We explain what we found in plain English, why it matters for that particular building and what you can sensibly do next.
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Years serving the Home Counties
Surveys and valuations completed
Chartered surveyors, regulated by RICS
A building surveyor inspects the fabric of a property and reports on its condition, the defects it has and the risks those defects pose. You need one when you are about to buy, when you are planning alterations or when something about your existing home is worrying you. For a purchase, the right time to bring us in is as soon as your offer is accepted, well before exchange.
We inspect the property and record what is wrong and why. Our report then explains what each finding means for you. For a homeowner, that might mean understanding a crack before calling in a builder. For a buyer, it means knowing the condition of a house before becoming legally bound to it.
Banbury is a historic market town in north Oxfordshire, on the River Cherwell and the Oxford Canal, close to the Northamptonshire and Warwickshire borders. Its mix of market-town and village housing means the type of survey you choose should match the age and construction of the home in question.
We are often asked to book a Level 2 or Level 3 survey at short notice because a buyer is about to exchange and their solicitor or mortgage broker has suggested one. If we then recommend further investigation or remedial work, arranging it takes time that a last-minute booking does not leave. Instructing us early gives you room to get specialist quotes, ask the seller questions or renegotiate before you are committed. Our guide on when to instruct a surveyor during a purchase sets out where the survey fits in the buying process.
We are RICS chartered surveyors covering Banbury, Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire and London. Tell us about the property and your timetable and we will confirm the scope and fee before you commit.
Your building survey in Banbury is carried out by an RICS chartered surveyor. Nick and James lead our survey and valuation work across Oxfordshire and the surrounding counties.
Nick brings a wealth of experience to Oakfield, having worked in several large multi disciplinary practices in London. Nick specialises in Residential property and has a particular interest in complex Building Surveys, neighbourly matters and Level 2 survey reports.
Nick has developed a good relationship with repeat clients, Solicitors and Estate agents by giving honest and expert advice.
James is a chartered surveyor (MRICS) with over 20 years’ property related experience. He is an RICS Registered Valuer and focuses on the residential sector undertaking a range of valuations as well as Level 2 (Homebuyer) and Level 3 (Building Surveys). He has a particular interest in non-traditional properties. Alongside this he also deals with party wall matters party wall appointments acting for both Building Owners and Adjoining Owners in respect of development proposals. James is a member of the Pyramus and Thisbe Club and Faculty of Party Wall Surveyors, both of which are bodies promoting education and best practice in Party Wall matters.
Choose a Level 2 Home Survey if the home is fairly new or well maintained and has had few extensions or alterations. Choose a Level 3 Building Survey if it is older, has been significantly altered or extended, or is unusual in its construction. If you are unsure which applies, describe the property to us and we will tell you which survey fits it.
| Point of comparison | Level 2 Home Survey | Level 3 Building Survey |
|---|---|---|
| Best suited to | Newer or well-maintained homes with limited extensions and alterations | Older buildings, homes with significant remodelling or extensions, and quirky or unusual buildings |
| Depth of inspection | We assess each element of the property | Our most in-depth inspection, covering all elements of the building in detail |
| How defects are explained | We give each element a traffic-light rating showing how urgently it needs attention | We describe the cause of each defect and the most suitable remedial options available |
| Valuation | We can include a market valuation and a building reinstatement valuation | The focus is on condition and repair advice |
| Fitting the report to you | Our traffic-light format sets out the findings element by element | We can shape the report around your particular concerns and plans for the property |
Our article on how to choose a surveyor for a building survey covers the questions to ask before you instruct anyone.
A Level 3 Building Survey covers the whole of the building we can see and reach, inside and out, along with the risks that come with the property and its setting. As a minimum, we inspect the walls and check for signs of subsidence, look at the damp proof course, floors, timbers, doors and windows, and examine any cellar, garage and permanent outbuildings.
We consider flooding, radon, noise, the condition of the roof, means of escape in a fire, and health and safety hazards. Each one we identify is explained in terms of what it means for living in or altering the home.
Our report addresses soil contamination, flood risk, hazardous materials such as asbestos, and energy efficiency. These can affect your health, your insurance and the cost of running the property.
Where a roof is hard to see from the ground, we can use a drone or a pole-mounted camera to photograph the coverings, chimneys and flashings. We normally enter the roof space too, and our page on why surveyors go in the loft explains what we look for up there.
The report opens with what we saw on site and our assessment of the structure. This tells you where we found movement or decay.
We then work through each element of the building in turn, recording its condition and any defects. You can read straight to the parts that concern you most.
We set out what should be repaired and how, and explain what our findings mean overall.
On older or historic buildings we may also use thermal imaging cameras, moisture meters and laser measuring devices, all of which are non-destructive.
Tell us the property address, a brief description of the home and your timetable, and we will confirm scope, fee and timescale before any work is agreed.
The typical problems in Banbury’s homes depend on when and how they were built. Older ironstone buildings tend to suffer from stone erosion, trapped moisture and roof wear, while later houses raise questions about construction methods, extensions and alterations.
Many older buildings in the town centre and surrounding villages are built in the local brown ironstone, with solid walls, lime mortar and stone or slate roofs, and some village cottages are thatched. Ironstone is soft, so it weathers and erodes over time, and we look closely at the faces of the stone and at the joints. A common problem is hard cement repointing or render applied to these walls, which traps moisture that lime would have let escape. When we find it, we explain how it may be contributing to damp or decay and what a more suitable repair involves.
Damp is a frequent concern in older solid-walled homes, which were never built with cavities. We trace its likely cause, because the cause decides the remedy. We also inspect chimneys, roof coverings and roof timbers, which take the brunt of the weather on older properties. Our page on surveys for historic buildings describes how we approach period properties.
Beyond the older core, Banbury has Victorian and Edwardian brick terraces, inter-war and post-war estates, and large modern estates on the edges of the town. Some post-war homes were built using non-traditional methods, which need particular care to identify. James Peck, who specialises in building surveying with us, has a particular interest in non-traditional construction and historic buildings.
Across all of these, we pay attention to extensions and alterations, which can change how a building carries loads or sheds water. We also inspect outbuildings, and record their condition.
A Level 3 survey is a visual, non-invasive inspection, so it reports on what we can see and reach on the day.
We inspect the electrics visually and can advise on the likely age of the system and whether it is likely to need upgrading. Testing its safety is a job for a qualified electrician, and we will recommend one where what we see suggests it. We do not test the drains, so if we see signs of a problem, we will recommend a drainage specialist.
We do not open up the structure, so defects hidden behind finishes, under fitted floor coverings or within the walls can remain. We do not assess areas we cannot safely reach, such as a roof void with no access or a space blocked by stored belongings. Where an area is restricted, our report says so, and we explain whether we think it warrants a further look.
If the home stands beside the Oxford Canal or the River Cherwell, checking its flood risk is for you and your conveyancer, who can obtain the relevant searches. Where we find a defect that needs closer investigation, such as movement or an outdated electrical installation, we recommend the right specialist so you can arrange the follow-up while there is still time to act on it.
A Specific Defect Report is the right choice when you have one known problem to investigate rather than a whole property to assess. It focuses on a single element, such as a crack in a wall, a persistent damp patch or a roof leak, and we shape it around the concern you bring to us.
We inspect the affected area and its surroundings, work out the likely cause and set out the options for putting it right. That makes it useful for homeowners who want to understand a problem before paying a builder, since the cause determines which repair will last. It also suits buyers whose survey has flagged an issue needing closer investigation before exchange.
Because the report looks at one element only, it does not replace a full survey when you are buying an older home. An older or much-extended house can carry defects well away from the one you have noticed, so we will suggest a Level 3 survey where the property calls for it.
Oakfield Surveyors’ Oxford office at Prama House, 267 Banbury Road, Summertown, Oxford OX2 7HT handles surveys in Banbury and across Oxfordshire. You can also reach us at info@oakfieldsurveyors.co.uk.
We are happy to communicate by phone, email or text, whichever is easiest for you. We take time to understand what you need before recommending a survey.
Give us the address, a brief description of the home and the survey you have in mind. Let us know your timetable so we can plan the inspection around it.
Your survey is carried out by our chartered surveyors, who are members of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (MRICS), and the firm is regulated by RICS. If questions come up after you receive the report, we can support you with further advice.
We have offices in Oxford, Beaconsfield, Henley-on-Thames, Rickmansworth and London and work throughout Oxfordshire, Buckinghamshire, Berkshire, Hertfordshire and London.
No. The report is private to you as the client who instructs us, and the seller does not receive a copy. You may decide to share parts of it with the seller if you are negotiating a price reduction, since specific findings give your request a clear basis. Share only the sections relevant to the negotiation, and discuss with your solicitor how to raise them.
It depends on the problem. Sometimes the seller arranges to put the issue right before completion, and sometimes the purchase price is renegotiated to cover the cost of dealing with it yourself. Our report gives you the description of each defect and the recommended repair, which you can use to get builders’ quotes. Those quotes then give you firm ground for any discussion with the seller.
Start by finding out why the figure is lower. It may reflect a defect or the condition of the property, or simply that the agreed price is high compared with similar homes nearby. When we value a property, we analyse it in detail and compare it with other properties in the area to reach a value. Once you know the reason, you can discuss your next step with your lender, broker or solicitor.
Alternatively please call us on 01494 926236.
One of our team of professionals would be delighted to help you with any queries.
