House viewing checklist

Outside and structure

• Roof — sagging ridge, slipped or missing tiles, patched areas
• Walls — cracks wider than a £1 coin, especially around windows and door frames
• Brickwork — crumbling mortar, bulging, fresh repointing that might hide something
• Guttering and downpipes — staining on the wall below means a long-standing leak
• Ground level — soil or paving above the damp-proof course bridges it
• Drains — lift a cover if you can, check it runs clear
• Boundaries — do fences and walls match the title plan? Who maintains which?
• Japanese knotweed — bamboo-like canes, purple speckling, in the garden or next door's2nd
• Trees close to the building — subsidence risk, particularly on clay soil2nd

Damp and water

The single most expensive thing to miss, and the easiest to hide for an hour.

• Smell — musty air, particularly in corners, cupboards and the lowest rooms
• Tide marks or staining low on walls, or a skirting board that has been recently replaced
• Bubbling or lifting paint and wallpaper; blown plaster that sounds hollow
• Black mould around window reveals, in wardrobes and behind furniture
• Freshly painted single walls — ask why that wall and not the room2nd
• Look behind and under large furniture, rugs and anything against an outside wall2nd
• Ceilings below bathrooms and around chimney breasts for old leak stains2nd
• Check the flood risk for the postcode before you go further2nd

Water, heating and electrics

Almost all of this belongs on a second viewing — you need permission and time.

• Run the hot tap in the kitchen and a bathroom — how long to run hot, how strong?2nd
• Flush the loo, then run a tap, to see whether pressure collapses2nd
• Shower pressure — weak flow upstairs often means no pump or a poor system2nd
• Boiler — make, age, where it is, and when it was last serviced2nd
• Radiators — are they in every room, and do they feel like they work?
• Fuse board — a modern consumer unit with RCDs, or an old rewireable board?2nd
• Sockets — enough of them, and not the round-pin or scorched kind2nd
• Ask for the EICR (electrical) and gas safety certificates, and the boiler paperwork2nd

Windows, doors and warmth

• Windows — open and close a few. Sticking frames, failed double glazing (misting between panes)
• Draughts around frames and letterbox; single glazing anywhere
• Loft — is it insulated, is it boarded, any daylight visible through the roof?2nd
• EPC rating and what it recommends — it's free to look up before you visit
• External doors — solid, secure, decent locks

Room by room

• Do your actual furniture and beds fit? Measure, don't estimate
• Storage — cupboards, wardrobes, somewhere for a hoover and a suitcase
• Kitchen — worktop space, extractor, room for appliances you own
• Bathroom — ventilation, sealant condition, is there space for a second loo later?
• Floors — springy or sloping boards, big gaps, uneven levels
• Phone signal in the rooms you'd actually use, and check broadband speeds for the address2nd
• Parking — is it allocated, permit-only, or first-come? What's it like at 7pm?2nd

Light, noise and neighbours

This is the strongest argument for a second viewing at a different time of day.

• Which way does the garden face, and when does it get sun?
• Come back at a different time — evening, or a weekend if you first saw it midweek2nd
• Traffic, flight paths, railway, pub, school run, nearby industry2nd
• Stand still and listen for a full minute with the agent quiet2nd
• Overlooking — who can see into the garden and main bedroom?
• Walk the street. Bins, parking, upkeep, anything that would bother you weekly2nd

Questions to ask

Ask the agent, but the answers that matter come in writing from the seller's solicitor.

• How long has it been on the market, and has the price been reduced?
• Why is the seller moving, and what's their timescale?
• Is there a chain, and how far up does it go?
• Have any offers been made and fallen through? Why?2nd
• Freehold or leasehold? If leasehold: years left, ground rent, service charge, and any planned major works2nd
• Any work done — and was building regulations approval and planning permission obtained?2nd
• Any history of subsidence, flooding, or an insurance claim on the property?2nd
• What's included — appliances, carpets, curtains, shed, that log burner?2nd
• Council tax band, and roughly what the bills run to2nd
• Any shared access, right of way, or shared drains and who maintains them?2nd