When you buy a house in Scotland, the seller provides a home report. It is a useful document — but there is a catch that catches buyers out every year: the roof is typically assessed from ground level. The surveyor notes what can be seen from the street or garden, and anything above the gutter line is often flagged as not fully inspected.
What a home report can miss
- Slipped, cracked or missing slates and tiles on rear elevations not visible from the ground
- Failing lead flashing around chimneys, valleys and abutments
- Cracked chimney haunching and loose pots
- Moss build-up holding moisture against the roof covering
- Perished flat-roof coverings on dormers and extensions
- Blocked, sagging or leaking guttering at the rear
Individually these might cost a few hundred pounds to put right. Together — or left for another winter — they can run into thousands. And once the missives are concluded, the cost is yours.
Why a drone survey before you buy makes sense
A drone roof survey photographs every elevation of the roof in high resolution. Every defect we find is circled on the photographs, described in plain English and graded by severity, so you can see exactly what you are buying. The report is delivered within 24 hours of the flight, fast enough to inform your offer or your negotiations.
What it costs
AyeInspect survey pricing
| Survey | Price |
|---|---|
| Residential drone roof survey | £99 |
| Commercial drone roof survey | £149 |
| Insurance Evidence Pack add-on | £39 |
| Quote Comparison Companion add-on | £29 |
Compare that with the cost of a scaffold tower just to look at the roof — typically several hundred pounds before anyone has taken a photograph — or the cost of discovering a failing roof in your first winter as the owner.
Using the report in negotiations
Because we never carry out repairs and never recommend contractors, our reports are genuinely independent. Buyers regularly use them to renegotiate the price, ask the seller to fix defects before completion, or budget accurately for work after they move in. A roofer quoting blind can tell you anything; a photographic report shows the truth.
Older and traditional stock needs it most
Tenements, Victorian and Edwardian terraces, and pre-war semis across Glasgow, Lanarkshire and Edinburgh almost all have original or ageing roof coverings, lead details and chimneys. These are exactly the properties where a ground-level glance misses the most.