Chartered surveyors in Blaenau Ffestiniog

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

Get your fixed quote →

More than three quarters of the homes around Blaenau Ffestiniog were built before 1900, the highest share of any town we cover and about five times the national figure. It is a slate quarrying town built of slate, in one of the wettest places in Wales, so almost every survey is about water: penetrating damp through stone walls, the state of slate roofs and their fixings, and drainage around houses cut into steep ground. The quarry workings and tips around the town are a reason to look at ground stability where a house sits near them.

Local conditions

What we check in Blaenau Ffestiniog.

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 Blaenau Ffestiniog 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 Blaenau Ffestiniog 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 Blaenau Ffestiniog.

76.9%

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 Blaenau Ffestiniog by construction era, compared with England and Wales
Built	Share	Compared with England & Wales	Homes
Pre-1900	76.9%	+61.4 pts	1,960
1900–1929	2.4%	-7.6 pts	60
1930s	3.9%	-6 pts	100
1945–1964	7.1%	-9.2 pts	180
1965–1982	3.5%	-14.8 pts	90
1983–1999	3.5%	-8.4 pts	90
2000 onwards	2.7%	-15.4 pts	70

2,550 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.

1945–1964

Post-war rebuilding, largely cavity-walled, but including system-built and non-traditional types — reinforced concrete, steel frame and prefabricated panels — put up quickly to address the housing shortage.

What we usually find. The conventional stock of this period is usually straightforward. Non-traditional construction is a different matter: some types are designated defective, and most lenders treat them differently or decline them, which affects both mortgageability and resale.

Worth knowing. Identifying the construction type is the first job on anything of this age that does not look conventionally built. A Level 3 survey is normally the right choice here, and lending should be confirmed early.

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 Blaenau Ffestiniog