RICS Homebuyer Survey in North Wales
This page is for buyers who need a RICS home survey on a specific house, bungalow or flat in North Wales — Gwynedd, Conwy, Anglesey, Denbighshire and neighbouring counties. It is a service page, not a general essay. If you want the background on why a survey matters in this market, read our article Homebuyer’s Survey North Wales: why it’s essential when buying a property in 2026, then come back here to instruct the right level of report.
The Welsh Surveying Co provides RICS Home Survey Level 1, Level 2 and Level 3 (building survey) inspections across the north. Email lydia@thewelshsurveyingco.co.uk or book a survey.
What we actually inspect in the north
North Wales is not one housing type. A 1970s estate house in Llandudno Junction, a slate-roofed terrace in Blaenau Ffestiniog, a coastal flat in Colwyn Bay, a farmhouse outside Bala and a holiday cottage on Anglesey will not take the same survey product, and they will not show the same defects.
Stone and slate cottages — common from the Ogwen valley to the Llŷn and across rural Denbighshire — often have solid walls, later cement pointing, replacement roofs of varying quality, and extensions that were never tied in. Damp is frequently a management issue as much as a “defect”: ventilation, ground levels, and modern finishes on old walls. We wrote a separate guide on damp, roofs and listed buildings because those three topics dominate instructions of this kind.
Coastal towns — Llandudno, Conwy, Bangor, Holyhead, Porthmadog, Abergele — add exposure. Rainwater goods, flashings, render and windows take more punishment. Flats in converted guest houses need a clear view of the roof and of whatever the lease says about who pays when it fails.
Twentieth-century and later housing around the A55 corridor is more conventional. Level 2 is often appropriate, provided the house has not been knocked about. New and nearly-new homes still warrant a survey: snagging, drainage, and the quality of the original workmanship are not guaranteed by a warranty brochure.
Rural and upland property brings access, private drainage, oil or LPG, outbuildings, and sometimes restrictions that sit with the title rather than the bricks. A surveyor is not a solicitor, and we will not pretend otherwise. We will report what we see of the building and the immediate site, and we will flag where you should take legal or specialist advice.
Which level to instruct
Do not default to the cheapest report because the purchase price is modest. A small cottage can be a Level 3 building. A large, simple, recently refurbished house can be a Level 2.
Level 1 is a concise condition report. It suits conventional property in good condition. It is the wrong tool for most older stone houses.
Level 2 is the workhorse for straightforward houses and bungalows. More detail, more comment on repairs, still a non-destructive inspection.
Level 3 is the building survey. Use it for listed buildings, complex or heavily altered houses, unusual construction, and anything where you need advice rather than a traffic-light summary. If you are planning works, instruct Level 3 before you budget those works.
Our comparison of Levels 1, 2 and 3 and the compare reports page are the shortest way to choose. If someone has told you the mortgage valuation will do the same job, it will not — that is explained in mortgage valuation vs RICS survey.
Scope, access and what we cannot see
A RICS home survey is a visual inspection. We look at roofs from the ground and from any safe, accessible loft; we do not walk every roof slope. We do not lift fitted floor coverings as a matter of course, move heavy furniture, or open up walls. Where we cannot see, we say so. That limitation is standard; it is also why you should read what a survey covers and what it does not before the inspection date.
Please arrange access with the estate agent. If the property is a holiday let, or occupied, or in a remote location, tell us when you instruct so the appointment is realistic.
How to book a North Wales survey
Email the particulars to lydia@thewelshsurveyingco.co.uk, or complete the book a survey form. Include the postcode, the property type, whether it is listed, and any concerns you already have. If you are unsure of the level, ask — we would rather recommend Level 3 on a cottage than watch a Level 1 miss the point.
Buying in the south instead? See Cardiff and Swansea. For the longer read on the northern market, keep the 2026 North Wales article alongside this page: the article is the why, this page is the how to instruct.