Home Improvement Surveys Frequently Asked Questions (FAQs)

A Home Improvement Survey is a stock condition survey involving a visual inspection of the inside and outside of your home including an assessment of the age and condition of all the main constructional elements and components, such as the kitchen, bathroom, windows and doors, roof, and gutters and downpipes. 

As part of the survey process, images will be taken of the main components within your property. The images will be for Ipswich Borough Council internal use and record purposes only. Rapleys surveyors are there to identify stock condition information for key components and not to assess the personal living condition or decorations within your property.

Ipswich Borough Council is surveying all their housing stock, to help improve the quality of the information we hold, and to provide an accurate picture of the overall condition of homes. It will not automatically mean work will be carried out to your home in the immediate future. It will ensure any information we hold about your home is up to date. 

In most cases, you will not need to wait for surveyors to arrive. Our surveyors will knock to see if you are at home to enable them to carry out the survey. If you are not, they may look at your garden, boundaries and surrounding areas, but they will have a list of alternative addresses that they can survey if you are not available on that day. However, they may return on another day to try again. Please note that Ipswich Borough Council or the surveyor may also contact you directly at some point, to book an appointment for a survey visit, at a time and on a day convenient to you. 

The survey involves the visual inspection of all key areas and building components inside and outside your home. As the inspection is visual only, carpets will not need to be lifted and no items of furniture will need to be moved. The surveyor will generally need access to all rooms, including the loft and all external areas. The surveyor will bring their own ladders. The surveyor may need to ask you a few questions to help clarify certain information.

As part of the inspection, the surveyor will need to take some photographs of the building components. These photos will be for Ipswich Borough Council internal use and record purposes only. It can be difficult to avoid taking photos of personal belongings. If you have belongings that you do not wish to be photographed, please remove them before the survey, or please advise the surveyor upon arrival. Please note that the surveyor is only interested in the condition of the components in your home itself, not how clean or tidy it is. 

The survey should take no more than 30 minutes. The time taken will vary depending on the size of your home and if the surveyor has already visited a similar property in your street. 

All of the surveyors from Rapleys LLP have been vetted and undergone DBS (Disclosure and Barring Service) checks. If you have any concerns, please do not let them into your home until you have checked their identity with Rapleys, by calling freephone XXXXXXXXX or you can also contact the Council’s Customer Service Centre to verify the surveyor’s details by calling 01473 432000.

No, this will not prevent a home improvement survey from being carried out at your property.

Yes, under the government’s Decent Homes Standard it is a legal requirement for Ipswich Borough Council to inspect your property and assess any risks and the condition of main constructional elements and components.