Chartered surveyors in Bala

1 RICS surveyor covering 1 postcode district around Bala, in North Wales. RICS Home Survey Level 2 and Level 3.

Half of the homes around Bala were built before 1900, and the interwar years barely added anything. It is a small stone market town at the northern end of Llyn Tegid, so the survey is predominantly the solid-wall one: moisture in thick stone walls, whether cement has replaced lime, and slate roofs and chimneys of a considerable age. Properties on the low ground near the lake and the river are checked against the Natural Resources Wales flood map before the inspection.

Local conditions

What we check in Bala.

Drawn from official open data for this area, not written from a template. It tells you what a survey here has to account for. It is not a substitute for the formal searches, and we say where those live.

1 postcode district covered: We cover LL postcodes around Bala with 1 RICS surveyor. What we look hardest at depends on the age and construction of your particular property.What a survey covers
Gwynedd: Building control records, conservation area status and planning history for Bala sit with Gwynedd. Where alterations look unauthorised we will say so, and tell you what to ask your solicitor to confirm.

Sources: Environment Agency flood areas and ONS boundary data, both Open Government Licence; coalfield extents from published Coal Authority and BGS mapping. Coalfield boundaries are indicative. A mining report is the authoritative answer for any individual property.

The housing stock in Bala.

49.1%

of homes within 2.4km of the centre were built pre-1900. Age is the strongest single predictor of what a survey finds, so it is where we start before we have seen the property.

Homes in Bala by construction era, compared with England and Wales
Built	Share	Compared with England & Wales	Homes
Pre-1900	49.1%	+33.6 pts	1,080
1900–1929	2.3%	-7.7 pts	50
1930s	2.3%	-7.6 pts	50
1945–1964	15%	-1.3 pts	330
1965–1982	17.3%	about average	380
1983–1999	5.5%	-6.4 pts	120
2000 onwards	8.6%	-9.5 pts	190

2,200 homes across 3 statistical areas within 2.4km of the centre. The marker on each bar is the England and Wales share. Source: Valuation Office Agency, Council Tax stock of properties, © Crown copyright, Open Government Licence v3.0.

What that means on an inspection

Pre-1900

Normally solid walls of brick or stone with no cavity, lime mortar, timber suspended floors and lath-and-plaster internally. Any damp-proof course is either slate or absent altogether.

What we usually find. Damp at low level is the most frequent finding, usually where a slate damp-proof course has been bridged by raised ground or by later solid floors and cement render. Chimney stacks, roof coverings and rainwater goods are often at or beyond the end of their serviceable lives, and earlier repointing in cement rather than lime can trap moisture and spall the brick face.

Worth knowing. Solid walls cannot be treated like cavity walls. Injected chemical courses and internal tanking frequently move the problem rather than resolve it, so the cause matters more than the last remedy applied.

1965–1982

Cavity walls with insulation increasingly built in, flat-roofed elements such as garages, dormers and rear additions, and a broader range of manufactured materials.

What we usually find. Flat roofs of this era are frequently on their second or third covering and are a common source of water ingress. Textured coatings applied before the mid-1980s may contain asbestos, as may some cement products, soffits and floor tiles.

Worth knowing. Asbestos-containing materials are usually safe if undisturbed and in good order, but they matter a great deal if you intend to remove ceilings, take down a garage or open up the layout.

These are tendencies of the local stock, not findings on any particular house. A well-maintained Victorian terrace can be in better order than a neglected 1990s semi, which is the entire reason a survey is done on the building in front of you rather than on its postcode.

Available in Bala