What to check at a house viewing
England & Wales · Last updated August 2026
A viewing lasts twenty minutes; the mortgage lasts twenty-five years. Most buyers walk around noticing the kitchen and the light, then remember three days later that they never looked at the boiler. Go in with a list, photograph what you find, and write your impressions down before the next viewing overwrites them.
Outside, before you knock
- Roof: slipped or missing tiles, sagging lines, moss build-up.
- Gutters and drains: green staining on walls below gutters means water has been overflowing for a while.
- Walls: cracks wider than a pound coin’s edge — especially diagonal ones over doors and windows — are worth photographing for your surveyor.
- Windows: condensation between double-glazing panes means failed units.
- The street: parking at the time you’d actually arrive home, flood signs (drains, watercourses), what neighbouring homes are like.
Inside: the unglamorous list
- Damp: use your nose first — musty smells don’t lie. Look for tide marks on lower walls, peeling paper, fresh paint on a single wall.
- Boiler: age, service stickers, where it is. Ask when it was last serviced.
- Water pressure: run a tap upstairs. Flush the loo.
- Electrics: the consumer unit (fuse box) — a modern unit with breakers, or an old fuse-wire box? How many sockets per room?
- Ceilings: brown rings mean a leak, past or present.
- Storage and doors: open every built-in cupboard — they hide meter locations, water tanks, and occasionally damp.
- Phone signal: check your bars in the middle of the house.
Questions worth asking the agent
- How long has it been on the market, and has the price changed?
- Why are the sellers moving, and have they found somewhere? (This is your first glimpse of the chain.)
- What’s the council tax band and roughly what do utilities run?
- Freehold or leasehold? If leasehold: years remaining, ground rent, service charge.
- Any work done? Extensions and loft conversions need sign-off you’ll want to see later.
Compare with your eyes open
After three viewings, houses blur. Score each home against the same few things you care about — light, space, work needed, commute — while you’re still standing in it, and note the true monthly cost, not just the price: mortgage, council tax, service charge, the heating a draughty house actually needs. A second viewing at a different time of day tells you more than a first viewing of somewhere new.