Home / Before you offer
Ask an architect before you offer.
Thinking of buying a house you'd extend, convert or rebuild? For £195 you get the Property Insight Report on that address within 30 minutes, and a 30-minute call with a RIBA chartered architect. Then make the offer — or don't.
The difference
A survey tells you what's wrong with the house. We tell you what it could become — and whether it's worth paying for.
You'll still want a survey once your offer is accepted. But a survey comes after the offer, costs several hundred pounds, and says nothing about the loft you're planning or the six metres you want at the back. This comes before the offer, for £195, and answers exactly that.
| Homebuyer survey | Property Insight Report | |
|---|---|---|
| When | After your offer is accepted | Before you offer |
| Tells you | Condition and defects | Potential, constraints, precedents and value |
| Who | A surveyor | A RIBA chartered architect, on a 30-minute call |
| How fast | Days to weeks | 30 minutes to your inbox |
| Cost | Typically several hundred pounds | £195, credited against our fee if you go ahead |
What buyers ask us
The questions the agent can't answer.
All of these are in the report, or settled on the call.
Can I add a loft or a rear extension without planning permission?
Whether the house still has permitted development rights, and what those rights would allow on this plot.
Is it in a conservation area, the Green Belt, or under an Article 4 direction?
The designations that remove rights or change the rules — and flood zone, trees and listing alongside.
What have the neighbours been allowed — or refused?
The planning history of the street is the best predictor of your own application. We read it so you don't have to.
Will an extension add value here, or am I already at the ceiling?
Sale history and comparables for the street, and an honest view on whether the sums work.
Could the garage become a room, an annexe — or a separate unit?
Conversions are where the value often hides, and where the rules are least obvious.
Is the asking price right for what it is — and for what it could be?
Not a valuation; a chartered architect's view of the gap between the house today and the house you'd make of it.
How it works
From the car outside the viewing to a decision.
01 · Now
Enter the address and pay £195
Any address in England. The report is assembled from planning, land and property data for that specific house and plot.
02 · Within 30 minutes
The report lands in your inbox
Designations, planning history and neighbours' precedents on one side; sale history, comparables, value and yield on the other. Read it before the next viewing. See a full sample →
03 · The next working day
Thirty minutes with a chartered architect
We go through the report with you, answer your questions about the house, and tell you honestly whether your project is realistic and worth it. Then you offer — or walk away, £195 lighter and a great deal better informed.
Comparing more than one house?
Most buyers are. [Second and further addresses at £X each — confirm pricing.] If you buy one of them and commission us, the reports you ordered are credited against your fee.
Or call 07985 293543, Mon–Fri 09:00–17:00, Sat 09:00–12:00.
Plain terms
What it is, and what it isn't.
It is a desktop appraisal of planning potential and value, built from public and commercial data, followed by a conversation with a chartered architect. It is not a survey, a valuation, or a legal or planning opinion you can rely on in place of one — and it doesn't involve a site visit. Where something needs a specialist (a structural engineer, an ecologist, a surveyor), we'll say so on the call.
If the report tells you the house won't do what you want, you've saved yourself the price of a bad purchase for £195. That happens more often than you'd think — and we'd rather tell you before you offer than after.
Questions
Before you order.
How quickly do I get the report?
Within 30 minutes of ordering. The report is assembled from planning, land and property data for the address and sent to your inbox, so you can read it before you've driven home from the viewing.
Is this a survey?
No. A survey tells you about the condition of the building. The Property Insight Report tells you about its potential and its value: what you could build, what the neighbours have been allowed, what constrains the site, and how the asking price sits against the street. You'll still want a survey once your offer is accepted.
Do I have to buy the house to use it?
No. Many buyers order it on two or three houses they're comparing. If the report shows a house won't do what you want, that's £195 well spent. If you do buy and later commission us, the £195 is credited against your fee.
What is the call for?
Thirty minutes with a RIBA chartered architect to go through the report, answer your questions about the house, and give you an honest view on whether the project you have in mind is realistic and worth the money. We book it for the next working day, so you can offer with the answers in hand.
I'm an estate agent. Can I offer this to my buyers?
Yes — and we'll write a short architect's note on one of your listings each month, free. See the page for estate agents.
Get in touch
Tell us about the project.
Whether it is a first conversation or a scheme someone else has already started, we are happy to hear where you have got to.
- Emailinfo@dzpstudio.co.uk
- Phone07985 293 543
- StudioLondon & Essex
- HoursMon–Fri 09:00–17:00
Sat 09:00–12:00