Homes we survey in Stevenage, Hitchin and Letchworth
Stevenage was the first new town designated under the New Towns Act 1946. Its neighbourhoods, from Bedwell and Broadwater to Chells, Pin Green and Symonds Green, were built mainly between the 1950s and the 1970s, and houses from the 1960s and 1970s outnumber any other age in our records here. Old Stevenage, along the High Street, is much older.
Letchworth, founded in 1903 as the first garden city, has Arts and Crafts houses with roughcast walls and steep tiled roofs set along tree-lined roads. Hitchin and Baldock are old market towns, with timber-framed and Georgian buildings in their centres and Victorian and interwar streets around them.
We inspect a fairly even mix of detached, semi-detached and terraced houses, including many from the 1980s and 1990s. We have seen timber framing of several ages, from historic frames to modern timber-framed houses, and Wimpey No-Fines concrete houses.
From our survey reports in Stevenage
Based on 44 DBISS surveys in 6 postcode districts since 2022. Figures are rounded; homes can fall in more than one wall category.
When the homes were built
Property types
- 27% detached
- 23% semi-detached
- 20% mid-terrace
- 14% end-terrace
Main walls
73% cavity masonry · 16% solid masonry
Non-standard construction recorded
Timber frame, Wimpey No-Fines. About non-standard homes
What to look out for
New-town houses. Flat roofs on garages and extensions, communal garage courts, early replacement windows and cavity insulation added later are all common. If a house is of no-fines concrete or another non-standard system, check your lender's policy early; our non-standard homes guides explain the main types.
Letchworth Garden City. Freehold homes on the Garden City estate come under the Heritage Foundation's Scheme of Management, and external changes need the Foundation's consent, separate from planning permission. Ask your solicitor whether past changes, such as replacement windows, were approved.
Timber-framed buildings. In Hitchin and Baldock, old frames can hide decay behind renders and later linings, and cement repairs can trap water against the timber. In modern timber-framed houses the frame is hidden behind brick or render, so alterations that cut into walls need care.
Ground. Chalk underlies parts of the area and clay others. On clay, trees close to foundations can cause movement.
Which survey?
A Level 2 Home Survey (from £440) suits many conventionally built new-town houses in reasonable condition. For Arts and Crafts houses, timber-framed or listed buildings, non-standard construction or anything you plan to alter, choose a Level 3 Building Survey (from £550), with the roof also inspected by drone where flight is permitted. Our which survey guide compares the two.
Areas we cover
We cover SG1 and SG2 (Stevenage), SG4 and SG5 (Hitchin and nearby villages, including Stotfold), SG6 (Letchworth Garden City) and SG7 (Baldock and Ashwell). All are within about 25 miles of Hemel Hempstead, so there is normally no travel supplement.
Nearby: St Albans and Harpenden, Luton and Dunstable and Bedford.