About Dunham Hale
Chartered surveyors who tell you what you actually need to know.
Buying a property is a big decision. Our job is to help you understand the building before you commit, its condition, significant defects, potential risks and the issues that may need further investigation or future expenditure.
Dunham Hale is an independent firm of RICS Chartered Surveyors providing residential surveys and valuations across the UK through a growing network of experienced local surveyors.
We combine professional judgement, local property knowledge and modern inspection technology with something equally important: clear advice you can actually understand.
Excellent • 1k Reviews
Experienced Chartered Surveyors
Drone Roof Inspection Included
With RICS Level 3 Building Surveys
Our approach
A survey is only useful if you understand it.
A survey shouldn't simply be a long document describing a building. It should help you make a decision.
We want you to understand what is significant, what is normal for a property of its age and type, what may require repair or further investigation, and where there could be future cost or risk.
That means we don't believe our job ends when we send you the report. Every survey is prepared and signed off by a qualified surveyor, and once you've received it, you can speak to the surveyor about the findings and ask questions about anything you don't understand.
The report gives you the detail. The conversation gives you the context.
Neil Heyes MRICS
Founder & Chartered Building Surveyor
Founder
Neil Heyes MRICS
Founder & Chartered Building Surveyor
I've spent most of my working life around buildings.
Over that time surveying has changed enormously, but what clients need from their surveyor really hasn't. They want someone experienced to inspect the property properly, identify what matters and explain it to them without making everything sound frightening or hiding behind technical terminology.
I've always been interested in how technology can improve surveying. That's why I adopted mobile reporting early and later introduced drones into our inspections. But I've never believed technology should replace professional judgement.
Dunham Hale is now taking that philosophy further. We're building a network of experienced surveyors who can develop strong local practices while sharing the technology, systems and standards of the wider Dunham Hale business.
The ambition is straightforward:
Build a modern Chartered Surveying practice without losing the personal service that made independent surveying valuable in the first place.
Neil Heyes MRICS
Founder, Dunham Hale Chartered Surveyors
Our story
Built on experience. Always looking forward.
Dunham Hale Chartered Surveyors is led by Neil Heyes MRICS, with more than 25 years' experience as a qualified Building Surveyor and almost four decades of experience around buildings, property and construction.
That experience has shaped a simple philosophy: good surveying requires professional judgement, but the right technology can help a good surveyor do an even better job.
Dunham Hale was an early adopter of mobile surveying technology, using smart mobile systems for on-site reporting from 2013. Drone technology followed in 2018, extending the surveyor's ability to inspect roofs and other difficult-to-access areas where conditions allow.
Today, that same approach continues across the practice. We use modern surveying systems, digital reporting, photography, moisture measurement, thermal imaging where appropriate, drone inspection and other technology where it genuinely adds value.
But technology never replaces the surveyor. Buildings require judgement. Understanding why a wall is cracking, whether dampness is significant, how an older building was constructed or whether an alteration warrants further investigation cannot simply be reduced to software.
Technology helps us gather information. Experience helps us understand what it means.
Why independence matters
Your surveyor should be working for you.
Local surveyors. Personal accountability. National standards.
When you're spending hundreds of thousands of pounds, sometimes considerably more, on a property, you need advice from someone whose responsibility is to give you an independent professional opinion.
We believe personal accountability matters. Your survey isn't simply passed through a production line. The surveyor inspecting the property is responsible for assessing what they see, considering the significance of the findings and communicating those findings clearly.
As Dunham Hale grows, we're keeping that principle at the heart of the business. Our network brings together experienced local surveyors operating within the Dunham Hale professional framework, supported by shared systems, technology, marketing and professional standards.
This allows us to combine something normally difficult to achieve.
The Dunham Hale approach
Professional surveying without the unnecessary jargon.
Independent & RICS regulated
We act for you, not the seller. Our surveying work is undertaken within the professional standards and requirements applicable to RICS regulated surveying practices.
Speak to your surveyor
Once you've received your report, you can speak directly with the surveyor responsible for your inspection to discuss the findings.
Experienced local surveyors
Our surveys are carried out by appropriately qualified and experienced surveyors with an understanding of the property types found within the areas they cover.
Modern inspection technology
We use technology where it improves the inspection, including digital surveying systems, moisture measurement, photography, thermal imaging where appropriate and drone technology.
Drone inspection with Level 3
Our RICS Level 3 Building Surveys include drone roof inspection where it is safe, legal and operationally possible, helping us obtain additional information about areas that can be difficult to inspect from ground level.
Reports written for people
Our reports provide detail where it matters while explaining defects, risks and recommendations in language designed to help you understand the property rather than simply catalogue it.
Why Dunham Hale
Why buyers choose Dunham Hale
Buying a property is a major decision. Our job is to give you clear, independent advice so you understand the property, the risks and what they could mean before you commit.
RICS Regulated
Professional standards you can rely on
Dunham Hale is regulated by RICS, giving you the reassurance of recognised professional standards, independence and accountability.
Experienced Chartered Surveyors
Your survey is prepared by an experienced professional
Our surveys are carried out by experienced Chartered Surveyors with the knowledge to identify defects, understand buildings and explain the issues that matter.
Clear, Plain-English Reports
Understand what you're actually buying
We explain defects, risks and recommendations in straightforward language, supported by photographs, so you can make an informed decision.
Modern Inspection Technology
Better access. Better evidence.
We use drones, moisture meters, thermal imaging and other inspection technology where appropriate to help our surveyors investigate the property more effectively.
Photographic Evidence
See what your surveyor sees
Clear photographs support our findings and help you understand the defects, risks and areas discussed within your report.
Speak to Your Surveyor
We're still here after your report arrives
You can speak directly with the surveyor who inspected the property to discuss the findings, ask questions and understand the recommended next steps.
Our surveyors
Property is local. Surveying should be too.
Buildings differ enormously across the UK. A Victorian terrace in London presents different considerations from a stone property in Yorkshire, a coastal house in the South West or an interwar suburban property in Greater Manchester.
That's why we're building Dunham Hale around experienced local surveyors operating within defined areas. They bring local knowledge and professional judgement. Dunham Hale provides the wider systems, technology, standards and infrastructure around them.
The result is a surveying practice designed to retain the personal relationship you'd expect from a local professional while providing the consistency you'd expect from an established national brand.
What to expect
Straightforward from quote to report.
Get your quote
Tell us about the property and the survey you're considering. We'll provide your quote and help you choose the appropriate service if you're unsure.
We arrange the inspection
We'll coordinate access to the property and arrange for the surveyor to carry out the inspection.
Your surveyor inspects the property
The property is inspected in accordance with the scope of the service you've selected, using additional inspection technology where appropriate.
Receive your report
You'll receive a clear written report setting out the surveyor's findings, significant defects, risks and recommendations.
Talk it through
Once you've read the report, you can speak with the surveyor to discuss the findings and ask questions before deciding what to do next.
What our clients say
Don't just take our word for it.
Excellent 4.7 / 5
Based on 1,000+ reviews
Hussain
GB · Verified review
Thorough report and service
Thorough report and service. Easy to arrange. Reasonably priced.See more of our Trustpilot Reviews
Joshua
GB · Verified review
Amazing. We recently had a Level 3.
We recently had a RICS Level 3 Building Survey with Dunham Hale Chartered Surveyors at a property we are buying in Highgate. The property is in poor condition. Neil found almost 70k estimated defects. We have just renegotiated on 50% of this so we are very pleased. Just a note that the drone survey of the roof and chimney stack was worth it. This was the bulk of the 70k with a new roof and two new chimney stacks needed. The report was super detailed and communication with Neil excellent. Best survey we have ever had so much so we have recommended to a friend of ours. Thanks we are very pleased.See more of our Trustpilot Reviews
Amy
GB · Verified review
Very pleased
Very pleased. We had a smooth experience with Dunham Surveyors from the quote to booking to survey to receiving the report. Straightforward and easy to deal with.See more of our Trustpilot Reviews
Professional standards
Regulated. Accountable. Professional.
Dunham Hale operates as a RICS regulated Chartered Surveying practice. RICS regulation provides a professional framework around areas including competence, ethics, client care, complaints handling and professional indemnity arrangements.
For our clients, it provides another important layer of confidence when choosing who to trust with their property.
RICS Firm Registration No: 876964
Buying a property?
Know what you're buying before you commit.
A good survey won't make the decision for you. It will give you better information on which to make it.
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Prefer to talk? Call 0161 729 1876 or 0203 962 4592