House Viewing Checklist (UK)

Damp is the most common expensive problem in UK housing, and it is easy to miss on a dry day. Look for tide marks on walls, a musty smell in corners, and paint or wallpaper that is lifting. Check behind furniture and inside wardrobes, where sellers rarely look. Cracks matter too: thin hairline cracks in plaster are usually settling, but a crack you can fit a coin into, especially near a window or door corner, is worth a surveyor's opinion. If there is a loft, look inside it. Daylight through the roof, stained timbers or heavy condensation all tell you something.

The boiler is the single biggest running cost to check. Ask its age and service history: a boiler over 15 years old is near the end of its life, and replacing one costs £2,000–£3,500. Look at the radiators. Cold patches at the bottom suggest sludge in the system. Ask to see the EPC, which rates the home from A to G and estimates running costs. A poorly insulated home with single glazing will cost noticeably more to heat, and from 2030 rented homes will need at least a C rating, so a low rating may mean future work.

Look at the consumer unit (fuse box). An old fuse box with rewirable fuses suggests the wiring has not been updated, and a full rewire costs several thousand pounds. Test the water pressure by turning on a hot tap and flushing a toilet at the same time. Low pressure upstairs is common in older properties and expensive to fix. Check under sinks for leaks and look at the age of the bathroom suite, which hints at when the plumbing was last touched.

In England and Wales, roughly a fifth of homes are leasehold, and the terms matter more than most buyers expect. Ask how many years are left on the lease: below 80 years, lenders get nervous and extending the lease becomes expensive. Ask about ground rent and service charges, which can add over £1,000 a year on a flat. If the building has cladding, ask for the EWS1 form, as some lenders will not lend without it. Scotland works differently: most flats there are owned outright under a different system, with no ground rent.

Visit at a different time of day, ideally on a weekday evening and a weekend. Listen for traffic, aircraft and neighbours. Check the flood risk yourself on the Environment Agency flood map rather than relying on the seller. Look at mobile signal, broadband speed and the walk to the station at rush hour. If you have children, check the catchment area for schools directly with the council, as catchment boundaries shift.

A viewing is a first filter, not a survey. You cannot see the roof, the drains, or what is behind the walls. If you are serious about a property, pay for a HomeBuyer report or a full structural survey. It costs a few hundred pounds and is the only way to find the problems a viewing cannot. On older or unusual properties, the full structural survey is usually worth the extra.