Listed, Heritage & Historic Building Surveyors
RICS-regulated specialist surveys for listed, heritage and period property across London, Surrey and Sussex — reading older buildings the way they were built to behave, so you buy, repair and alter with your eyes open. Pre-purchase, damp and structural, by chartered surveyors with real conservation experience.
RICS-Regulated
Chartered surveyors, regulated to RICS standards.
Heritage Specialists
Genuine conservation experience, not a modern template.
London, Surrey & Sussex
Two offices, covering the South East.
Reports You Can Act On
Clear condition, liabilities and repair advice.
What a listed & heritage building survey covers
A listed or heritage building survey is a specialist inspection built for older, protected and traditionally-constructed property — not a modern template bolted onto an old house. It reads the fabric as it was designed to work, finds damp, decay and inappropriate past repairs, and sets out sympathetic, defensible recommendations.
Heritage and listed buildings behave differently from modern ones: solid, single-skin walls and soft, permeable fabric that breathes, letting moisture evaporate out rather than sealing it in with cavities and cement. It’s the duffle coat versus the raincoat — both keep you dry, but one lets moisture out and the other locks it in. Survey an old building as if it were modern and you miss the very problems that matter.
Most of Britain’s older buildings were built to breathe — which is exactly why they need a surveyor who understands them.
When you need a specialist survey
If a property is listed, in a conservation area, or simply old and traditionally built, a standard survey isn’t enough — a specialist tells active problems from the normal character of an old building.
Before you buy
A pre-purchase survey uncovers damp, decay and past bad repairs — and the liabilities that come with them — before you commit.
Before you alter or repair
Know what the fabric needs, and what will need listed building consent, before any works start.
Older & traditional homes
Pre-1919 solid-wall, timber-framed and period property behave differently and need reading that way.
Buying or altering a listed building?
Tell us about the property and we’ll come back with a clear, fixed quote — no obligation.
Common problems in listed & historic buildings
One thing sits behind most problems in listed and historic buildings: modern, impervious repairs that trap moisture in fabric built to breathe.
- Trapped damp — cement renders, vinyl paint and modern infill stop walls breathing.
- Timber rot & sole-plate decay — trapped moisture attacks the frame and its load-bearing joints.
- Inappropriate past repairs — cement on soft brick, hard renders over lime, often needing undoing.
We trace the real cause, not the symptom — full detail in our guide to diagnosing structural issues in historic buildings.
Grade I, II* and II — what listing means
A listed building is protected by law under the Planning (Listed Buildings and Conservation Areas) Act 1990 for its special architectural or historic interest. Listing covers the whole building, inside and out — and often fixtures, outbuildings and boundary walls too.
| Grade | What it means | Share of listed buildings |
|---|---|---|
| Grade I | Exceptional interest | ~2.5% |
| Grade II* | Particularly important, more than special interest | ~5.8% |
| Grade II | Special interest — the vast majority | ~91.7% |
Listing doesn’t freeze a building in time, but any works that affect its character — inside or out — need listed building consent, and doing them without it is a criminal offence. Our guide explains what needs consent and what doesn’t.
What we do
Listed & heritage surveys
Pre-purchase and condition surveys for listed, heritage and historic property.
Timber & damp surveys
Specialist damp and timber investigation for traditional fabric.
Building pathology
Getting to the root cause of defects in older buildings.
Repair schedules
Scopes of work specifying sympathetic, breathable repairs.
Interim condition surveys
Ongoing condition monitoring for heritage owners and trustees.
Related surveys
Why choose Blackacre
- RICS-regulated chartered surveyors with genuine conservation experience.
- We read old buildings correctly — breathable fabric, lime, timber frame — so we diagnose the cause, not the symptom.
- Reports you can act on — condition, liabilities, and sympathetic repair advice.
- Heritage, listed & historic property across London, Surrey and Sussex.
What our clients say
“Blackacre completed a thorough pre-purchase survey of a listed property, highlighting several important issues that helped us in the offer negotiation process. An informative phone call on completion of the report was very helpful too.”
— Lee Dalton
Pre-purchase listed property survey
“Excellent service and very reasonably priced. Even completed the requested survey report in less than a week despite being asked three days prior. Would highly recommend Blackacre!”
— Jonathan Barco
Building survey
“Ben was extremely responsive and went above and beyond to help us out. Clear, professional advice exactly when we needed it.”
— Tim Houghton
Heritage advice
What drives the cost of a listed building survey
Every listed and heritage property is different, so we price each survey on the building rather than a flat rate — its size, age and construction, its grade and complexity, condition and access, and where it is.
A compact Grade II cottage in sound condition is a very different job from a large, altered Grade II* house with concealed timber framing. Tell us about the property and we’ll give you a clear, fixed quote with no obligation — almost always far less than the cost of the defects a proper survey uncovers before you buy.
Your key contact
Ben Salvage MRICS C.Build E MCABE
Director | Chartered Building Surveyor
Ben leads Blackacre’s listed and heritage survey work. Speak to him directly about your property, what the survey covers and how soon we can get to you.
Listed & heritage surveys: your questions answered
A full inspection of the structure, fabric and services of a listed, heritage or historic property, read in the context of how the building was built. We identify damp, decay, movement and inappropriate past repairs, set out the liabilities, and recommend sympathetic, breathable repairs — with a clear report you can act on.
Yes. A standard survey built for modern homes misreads traditional fabric, often mistaking normal breathable behaviour for defects (and vice versa). A listed or heritage building needs a surveyor with conservation experience to diagnose the real issues and advise on appropriate repairs.
Yes. Any older, traditionally-built property — pre-1919 solid-wall, timber-framed or period — benefits from a heritage building survey, whether or not it’s formally listed. The construction, not the listing, is what calls for specialist reading.
Grade I is exceptional interest (~2.5% of listed buildings), Grade II* is particularly important (~5.8%), and Grade II is special interest and the vast majority (~91.7%). Listing covers the whole building inside and out, whatever the grade.
It depends on the property’s size, age, construction, grade, condition and location, so we quote each one individually rather than a flat rate. Tell us about the building and we’ll give you a clear, fixed, no-obligation quote.
Genuine like-for-like repairs usually don’t, but anything that affects the building’s character — inside or out — does, and unauthorised works are a criminal offence. See our guide to listed building consent for what needs it and what doesn’t.
Arrange your listed building survey
Tell us about the property and we’ll come back with a fixed quote — no obligation. RICS-regulated listed, heritage and historic building surveyors across London, Surrey and Sussex.
Call 0203 476 9561 · London: 107–111 Fleet Street, EC4A 2AB · Sussex: 203b The Candlemakers, West Street, Lewes, BN7 2NZ