Asbestos Surveys in Leatherhead
An asbestos survey finds and assesses what is hiding in a Leatherhead property, from the period homes near the High Street to the interwar semis in Fetcham, Ashtead and Bookham. Inspection, lab-tested samples and a written report, not removal.
Buying or Letting an Older Leatherhead House
Most people who call us about a survey are at a turning point with a Leatherhead property. They are buying a house off the High Street and want to know what they are taking on. They are about to let out a flat in one of the older converted buildings and need to show they have checked it. Or a refit is booked and the builder has asked, quite rightly, what is behind the walls before he starts. In every case the question is the same. What is actually in this building, and is any of it asbestos.
Leatherhead makes that a fair question. The town grew in layers, from the timber-framed core and the Georgian and Victorian frontages around the centre, out through the late-Victorian and Edwardian streets, then the large interwar and postwar estates across Fetcham, Ashtead and Bookham. The bulk of the housing in the KT22 and KT23 postcodes went up before asbestos was banned in the UK in 1999. Older stock that has been split into flats or extended over the years is harder still to read, because materials from several different decades end up layered in the same building.
A survey answers the question properly. It is not removal, and it is not a guess from the doorstep. It is a structured inspection of the property that finds the asbestos, records where it is and what condition it is in, and gives you that in writing. The point of doing it first is that you make decisions on facts rather than on what a previous owner happened to mention, which in a house that has changed hands a few times is often very little.
The Two Surveys and Which One You Need
There are two standard surveys, and the right one depends on what you are doing with the building. A management survey suits a home that is staying lived in as it is. It locates the asbestos that is there, judges how likely it is to be disturbed in normal day to day use, and tells you what to keep an eye on. This is the survey a landlord usually wants, and the one buyers ask for when they are taking on an older Leatherhead house and want a clear picture before they exchange.
A refurbishment and demolition survey is the more intrusive one, and it is needed before building work. If you are knocking through, taking a property back to brick, converting a loft or pulling down an outbuilding, this survey goes further. It looks into the parts of the structure the work will reach, the kind of places that stay hidden until a wall comes down or a ceiling comes out. Booking it before the job rather than during it is what keeps a Leatherhead renovation on track, because nobody wants the trades stood down halfway through while something unexpected gets tested.
Timing is the part people get wrong. A management survey is worth having in hand before you exchange on a Leatherhead house, while you can still factor what it finds into the deal. A refurbishment and demolition survey wants to be done once the property is empty and before the first wall comes out, so the surveyor can reach the spots the work will open up. Leaving either to the last minute is how a straightforward job turns into a delay.
If you are not sure which one fits, tell us what the building is and what you plan to do with it, and we will point you to the right level rather than sell you the bigger one by default.
How the Survey and the Lab Work Together
An asbestos survey is a two-part job. First the inspection, where a surveyor goes through the property and works out which materials are suspect. The usual candidates in Leatherhead homes are textured artex coatings, old floor tiles and the adhesive under them, pipe lagging, cement soffits and the boarding around boilers and in airing cupboards. The surveyor checks the awkward spots as well as the obvious ones, the loft, the airing cupboard, under the stairs, the garage and the outbuildings behind the larger houses out towards the North Downs. None of it can be confirmed by eye, and two ceilings that look identical can come back from the lab completely differently.
That is where the second part comes in. Small samples of the suspect materials are taken under controlled conditions and sent to a UKAS-accredited laboratory, which is the only way to say for certain whether a material contains asbestos and what type it is. Results usually come back within a few working days, and the report waits on them rather than on a hunch. Each material is logged with where it sits in the property and how good or poor its condition is, so the findings read as a clear list rather than a verdict on the house as a whole.
This is also the line between a survey and simple sampling. Sampling tests one or two specific items you already have your eye on. A survey inspects the whole property and then samples what it finds, so you are not left wondering about the rooms nobody looked at. For a buyer or a landlord that difference matters, because the risk is rarely the material you already spotted. It is the one in the part of the house you never thought to check.
The Written Report and What Happens Next
What you are left with at the end is a written report, and that document does most of the work. It sets out where any asbestos is in the property, what type it is, what condition it is in and what should happen to it. You can hand that straight to a builder so he can plan around it, to a solicitor or buyer as part of a sale, or keep it on file as a landlord to show the property has been checked. It turns a vague worry into a list you can actually act on.
Not everything the survey finds has to come out. Material that is in good condition and will not be disturbed is often safest left where it is and simply recorded. Where something does need removing, the report tells you exactly what, so you can deal with it before the work starts instead of discovering it mid-job. Lower-risk materials such as some artex can sometimes be handled as non-licensed work, while higher-risk items like asbestos insulating board are licensed and treated to a stricter standard, but the survey is what tells you which is which.
Clearaway Asbestos has surveyed and worked on homes across Leatherhead and the wider Surrey KT postcodes for more than seven years, and we hold Spectra licence number 142305706. To book a survey anywhere from the High Street out to Fetcham, Ashtead and Bookham, call the team on 0800 024 6168 and we will arrange a date that suits you.
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Our Removal Process
From first call to final certificate, every job follows the same clear four-step process.
Survey
We inspect the property and confirm the material. Sampling available if required.
Quote
Fixed written price covering removal, disposal and any replacement work.
Removal
Material is removed safely, double-wrapped and taken to a licensed disposal facility.
Certificate
You receive a waste consignment note and disposal certificate confirming legal handling.
Frequently Asked Questions
Why Choose Clearaway
Specialist Crew
Asbestos work is all we do, every day, across the South East.
Fully Licensed
Licensed asbestos removal contractor (Licence No. 142305706). Full public liability insurance on every job.
Local & Fast
Surrey-based. Most domestic jobs are booked in and finished within a week.
Our Own Team
We never subcontract. The people who quote your job are the people who do it.
Get in Touch
Send a few details about your project and we will come back the same working day with a fixed price. We cover Surrey, London and the South East, including Esher, Cobham, Kingston, Richmond, Epsom, Guildford, Woking and Croydon.