The Process of Buying a Home
- Tollington Surveyors
- Apr 28
- 4 min read
Updated: May 10
The Process of Buying a Home
Buying a property in North London, whether a flat or a house, involves several coordinated steps. While each transaction is different, there are core stages you’ll go through — and understanding when to instruct your surveyor is a key part of the process.
Offer Accepted – What Happens Next?
Once your offer is accepted, you’ll need to instruct a solicitor to begin the legal due diligence. This includes reviewing the lease (if leasehold), checking the title, and ordering the necessary searches. You should also begin your mortgage application process as soon as possible. Your lender will instruct their own valuation survey, which is not the same as a HomeBuyer or Building Survey. It is carried out for the lender’s benefit to assess loan risk and will not give you a detailed view of the property’s condition.
In some cases, the lender’s valuation survey may flag significant issues such as structural movement or signs of subsidence. If this happens, the lender may require you to commission a RICS Level 3 Building Survey before agreeing to lend. This is particularly common if the property is older, has visible defects, or appears to have been poorly maintained. At this stage, it’s also advisable to appoint your own surveyor from a regulated firm. Even if you don’t yet have a survey date confirmed, it’s wise to get this arranged early. Delays in surveys can hold up your purchase unnecessarily.
2. Why Appoint a Surveyor?
A property survey gives you an independent assessment of the condition of the building. In North London, where many properties are over 100 years old and built on London Clay, defects are common. A survey can highlight issues such as dampness, movement, roofing problems, outdated electrics, or poor-quality alterations. These are the types of findings that, if known earlier, may have changed your offer.
3. What If the Survey Finds Problems?
It’s not unusual for issues to arise. A detailed survey report doesn't just highlight defects — it can also guide what documentation or further enquiries may be needed. For example, if structural alterations are noted, the survey will typically recommend that you ask the seller for evidence of building control approval or planning consent. It may flag the need to request warranties, guarantees for works carried out, or service history for items like boilers and roofing.
In addition, the survey may advise further investigation by qualified specialists, such as a gas engineer, electrician, or damp contractor, depending on what is observed during the inspection. If significant dampness is identified, a specialist damp inspection may be recommended to determine the extent of the issue and provide a clear treatment plan. Where notable structural movement is suspected, the surveyor may recommend the involvement of a structural engineer to carry out a detailed structural assessment.
It can also highlight important questions to ask the vendor before progressing — such as whether past issues have been resolved or whether insurance claims have ever been made on the property.
If your survey identifies defects that require attention, you might decide to:
Renegotiate the purchase price
Ask the seller to carry out repairs prior to exchange
Get quotations from contractors so you understand the cost of remedial work
Reconsider your position entirely
This stage may involve some back and forth between you, your solicitor, and the estate agent. A good survey report will give you the clarity needed to decide your next step confidently.
4. Environmental and Additional Searches
Alongside your survey, your solicitor will carry out local authority and environmental searches. These are crucial in areas like North London where clay subsoils, tree-lined streets, and older drainage systems can all impact a building’s stability. Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs), flood risk zones, and historic land use are all picked up in environmental searches and shouldn’t be overlooked.
5. A Note on Timing
While it’s tempting to wait for the legal side to progress before booking your survey, it’s best to run both processes in parallel. A delay in receiving the survey can lead to lost momentum or, in some cases, losing the property altogether.
Final Thoughts
Understanding the condition of a property and any potential risks is essential when making a purchase. Instructing a regulated surveyor early in the process allows you to make informed decisions and avoid relying solely on the seller’s representations. A clear and thorough report ensures you are proceeding with full awareness of the building's condition — or gives you the opportunity to reassess your position if serious issues are identified.
It is important to ensure that an environmental search is carried out at the outset. These searches can take up to eight weeks and may reveal critical issues such as flood risk, contaminated land, subsidence, or Tree Preservation Orders (TPOs). In North London, where properties are frequently affected by clay subsoil and mature trees, this information is vital to assess long-term risk.
At Tollington Surveyors, our exclusive focus on the North London area — including areas such as Highgate, Muswell Hill, Haringey, Crouch End, Finsbury Park, and Tottenham — sets us apart from national firms. This localised knowledge ensures a deeper understanding of the architectural character, typical defects, and ground conditions unique to these neighbourhoods.
If you’re considering purchasing a home in North London, we offer comprehensive RICS Level 2 HomeBuyer Reports and RICS Level 3 Building Surveys. Our knowledge of the area means we’re able to provide specific, relevant insights to help you make a well-informed decision.
We hope this serves as a helpful general overview for buying a property in areas such as Harringay, Crouch End, Finsbury Park, Islington and Highgate. Every property is different, but being prepared and well-informed at each stage gives you the best chance of a smooth purchase.
Tollington Surveyors is a small, locally-focused surveying company based in Stroud Green, and dedicated to serving the Haringey area. Learn more >
