Home / Before you offer
Ask a chartered architect before you offer.
Thinking of buying a house you'd extend, convert or rebuild? For £149 including VAT you get the plotwise report by DZP on that address in your inbox in as little as 30 minutes during office hours, and always within 24 hours, plus a free 30-minute call with a RIBA chartered architect to go through your report and talk about design ideas for the house. We're here to help you decide whether to make an offer.
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 need a survey once your offer is accepted. But a survey comes after the offer, typically costs £500 to £1,000, and says nothing about the loft you're planning or the six metres you want at the back. This comes before the offer, for £149 including VAT, and answers exactly that.
| Homebuyer survey | Our report | |
|---|---|---|
| When | After your offer is accepted | Before you offer |
| Tells you | Condition and defects | Potential, constraints, precedents and an estimate of value |
| Who | A surveyor | A RIBA chartered architect, on a free 30-minute call |
| How fast | Days to weeks | As little as 30 minutes in office hours; always within 24 hours |
| Cost | Typically £500 to £1,000 | £149 including VAT, deducted from our fee if you go on to hire us for the project |
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 one of the clearest guides to how your own application may go. 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 sitting in your car outside the viewing to a decision.
01 · Now
Tell us the address
Any address in England. The report is assembled from planning, land and property data for that specific house and plot.
02 · As little as 30 minutes in office hours
The report lands in your inbox
Designations, planning history and neighbours' precedents on one side; sale history, comparables, an estimate of value, and yield on the other. Read it before the next viewing.
03 · When it suits you
Your free 30-minute call with a chartered architect
We go through the report with you, talk about design ideas for the house, answer your questions, and tell you honestly whether your project is realistic and worth it. Then you decide, knowing far more than you did at the viewing.
Comparing more than one house?
Most buyers are. If you buy one of them and go on to hire us for the project, the report for that house is deducted from our fee.
Or call 07508 382877, Mon–Fri 09:00–17:00, Sat 09:00–12:00.
About this report
It is a desktop appraisal of planning potential and an estimate of value, built from public and commercial data, checked by a chartered architect before it is sent, then talked through with you on a free call. 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 £149. That happens more often than you'd think, and we'd rather tell you before you offer than after. Full terms of sale.
Questions
Before you order.
How quickly do I get the report?
The report is put together from planning, land and property data for the address, checked by a chartered architect, and in your inbox in as little as 30 minutes during office hours, and always within 24 hours.
Is this a survey?
No. A survey tells you about the condition of the building. The plotwise report tells you about its potential and gives an estimate of 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 £149 well spent. If you buy the house and go on to hire us for the project, the £149 is deducted from our fee.
What is the call for?
It's an optional extra, included free, and we recommend it. On a 30-minute call with a RIBA chartered architect, we go through the report, talk about design ideas for the house, answer your questions, and give you an honest view on whether the project you have in mind is realistic and worth the money. If you'd like one, book it with the link at the end of the report, at a time that suits you.
I'm an estate agent. Can I offer this to my buyers?
Yes, and we'd love to hear from you. We work with estate agents and have something designed especially for you and your buyers. Get in touch and we'll tell you more.
Get in touch
Tell us about your project.
Whether you're just starting out or picking up a project halfway, we'd love to hear from you.
- Emailinfo@dzpstudio.co.uk
- Phone07508 382877
- StudioLondon & Essex
- HoursMon–Fri 09:00–17:00
Sat 09:00–12:00