Buying a Home in Harpenden

 

Booking a Building Survey

If you book a survey with 1st Associated you will find that we take great pride in the quality of our survey and produce a very detailed survey report. We use plain English to explain any problems with the property to ensure that you understand the problems and how to resolve them. We have carried out surveys in Harpenden and many surrounding towns and villages in Hertfordshire.

All our survey contain lots of images, clearly showing any problems that we have identified at the property such as woodworm, rising damp or cracking to the walls. We also use sketches in our survey which are aimed at helping you to understand how certain areas are constructed or to help show more clearly a problem that we have identified. You will also find lots of definitions of any building terminology that we may use in our survey, as we firmly believe in 'Plain English' and really want you to fully understand what we are saying in the survey report.

Free phone 0800 298 5424 to speak to a surveyor.

A1081 into Harpenden from St Albans	Harpenden High Street
Entering Harpenden High Street from north	Southdown Road and The Common looking towards A1081 towards St Albans
Harpenden High Street	Station Road

Where to buy your ideal home in Harpenden

On the A1081 close to junction 9 of the M1 and junctions 4/5 of the A1 is the picturesque town of Harpenden. It is close to St Albans to the south and Redbourn to the west. Harpenden, due to the delightful period cottages, town greens, The Common and its tree lined High Street, maintains a village feel yet is a busy town which is popular with commuters due to its good road and rail links between Bedford and St Pancras in London and you can even go direct to Gatwick Airport and all the way to Brighton.

There is an array of good schools in Harpenden, with numerous primary schools and three excellent secondary schools.

The 'Avenues', a collection of prestigious roads in Harpenden

St Nicholas Church

 

Information on Harpenden

Harpenden is positioned between to the west Watling Street and to the east the Great North Road with several green areas such as Church Green, Leyton Green, High Street Green and the Green Flag award winning large Harpenden Common, which covers 238 acres and is at the heart of the town. Many events including Classics on the Common and the classic car rally are held there every July.

The attractiveness and desirability of living in Harpenden is reflected in the cost of housing which is well above the national average. Harpenden is predominantly a residential town but there are a few light industrial factories in the nearby area.

The centre of the 'the village' as it is referred to, has many interesting individual shops and a couple of supermarkets along with numerous restaurants, pubs and cafes, many of which we have visited! There are also places to shop in North Harpenden and Batford.

Batford has the River Lea running through it, which has a ford at the end of Crabtree Lane and Marquis Lane and as a child we can still remember a car trying to drive through it and getting stuck! They also filmed an episode of the 1970's police drama “The Professionals” where they had to drive through the ford.

Harpenden has a leisure centre and swimming pool. This is now an indoor pool, but was originally an outdoor pool, where as a child we can remember long hot summers having fun and getting sunburnt!

Rothamsted Park	Harpenden Swimming Pool	Harpenden Leisure Centre

 

Notable residents of Harpenden have included singer Frank Ifield and popular entertainer Eric Morecombe, one half of comedy duo Morecombe and Wise. The local Public Hall was re-named The Eric Morecombe Hall as a tribute and film maker Stanley Kubrick lived closed by.

Whilst conducting both residential and commercial building surveys in the area it is lovely to visit Lydekker Park which was owned by the Lydekker family until the last family member passed away at the age of 100, Miss Hilda Lydekker leaving the land to the Council to keep as an open space for the public and is a delight to visit. Harpenden is renowned for Rothamsted Research the world famous agricultural research centre which focuses today on sustainable land management and its environmental implications on a large campus with modern conference facilities.

We note that there are some substantial residences in Harpenden in East Common Way and in the West Common area as well as The Avenues, West Common Way, Rothamsted Avenue, Morton End Lane, Park Avenue North and South, Maple Road and Rosebery Avenue, to name but a few.

In addition to these most roads around Hatching Green and Kinsbourne Green have a wealth of larger detached properties.

Rothamsted Research, well known for providing innovations in agricultural science	Stone outside Rothamsted Research erected in 1893 to celebrate its 50th year!
Modern sculpture on Church Green	Bridge over The Ford, a haven for wildlife

 

Experience with older properties

Older properties are built to a quality standard, newer properties are built to a price. Chat to your independent chartered surveyor to really understand what you are dealing with when buying a period property. We recommend you go on a Society of Protection of Ancient Buildings course, known as SPAB, which will give you a good knowledge of period properties.

Many original timber frame houses still remain, together with Georgian and Victorian properties. For example in Limbrick Road, Rothamsted Avenue, Rosebery Avenue, Salisbury Avenue, Kirkwick Avenue, West Common Grove and East Common.

If your home is Listed or in a Conservation Area, as many older properties in Harpenden town centre are, you will have to liaise with your local Conservation Officer before you carry out any work and obtain the necessary permissions.

For more information go to our specialist Listed Buildings website: BritishListedBuildingsSurveyor.com

Old character property	Traditional Tudor timber frame house
Old / Georgian properties on The Common	Grade II Listed Harpenden House

 

Before you choose your Estate Agent ...

A brief guide about estate agents:

There are many good estate agents, however you should remember that they are working for the vendor and that you are not their client, meaning their main aim is to sell the property no matter what.

It is always best to have a full structural survey carried out by an independent chartered building surveyor before you commit to purchase. The word 'Independent' is important, as it means the surveyor is not connected with any estate agents, banks or building societies, meaning you are indeed their client and they are only working for you with no other interested parties to give you an independent, unbiased and truthful survey report, with all the pros and cons of the house, whereas estate agents surveyors have the vendors interest at heart over yours.

Remember, Caveat Emptor

Caveat emptor means buyer beware and having an independent building survey enables you to find out whether there are any problems in the property before you legally commit to purchase it.

Many of our clients have been able to use the information within our survey reports to renegotiate the purchase price of the property, as well as having peace of mind that they know of any problems with the house. We also offer anticipated costs of works.

 

Below are some articles we have written on the subject of estate agents, banks and building societies that we think will be of interest to you.

 

Banks, building societies and mortgage lenders, things you don't know

Do estate agents tell the truth?

Estate agents want buyers to use their own surveyors

The unhealthy alliance between local surveyors and estate agents

 

Areas in Harpenden near Good Pubs!

In days gone by Harpenden was often a stop off for weary travellers to and from London, staying on one of the main inns / public houses in the town. Many of those still remain today, such as The Silver Cup, The Harpenden Arms, The George, The Cross Keys, The Old Cock Inn, The Bell, The Fox and The White Horse in Hatching Green. These pubs are as popular today as they ever were.

The Old Cock Inn	The Silver Cup
The White Horse, Hatching Green	The Marquis of Granby

Pub Surveys

If you are interested in leasing or buying a pub we also carry out Commercial Building Surveys, Schedules of Condition, Property Reports and Dilapidation Reports.

Please see our website for further details: pubsurveys.co.uk

Or freephone 0800 298 5424 for a friendly chat.

 

Town and Villages in Herfordshire

1st Associated Surveyors cover all areas of Hertfordshire for example in:

Abbots Langley, the birth place of the only English Pope Nicholas Breakspear/Pope Adrian IV and a town we have often carried out surveys in, Baldock, Berkhamsted, Bishops Stortford, with its well known school, Borehamwood, home to Elstree Studios, Broxbourne, with its Paradise Wildlife Park, Cheshunt, a commuter town being only 14 miles from Charing Cross and easy to get to when carrying residential and commercial surveys, Harpenden, with the Common; an area of natural beauty, Hatfield, with elegant Hatfield House, Hemel Hempstead, with its magic roundabout great fun to negotiate on the way to doing a building survey, Hitchin, Hertford, county town of Hertfordshire, Knebworth, with the Gothic Mansion Knebworth House and its gardens and park, Letchworth Garden City, an attractive Garden City with the first roundabout in the UK where we have carried out many property reports, Potters Bar, at junction 24 of the M25, Radlett, in the valley of Tykes Water, Rickmansworth, with the large Aquadrome Local Nature Reserve, St Albans, famous for its Cathedral and a delightful city to visit as surveyors with its many historical buildings, Stevenage, just off the A1 at junction 7 and 8 Watford, and its large shopping centre, Tring, home of the famous Rothschild's Natural History Museum, Watford, Welwyn Garden City between Hatfield and Stevenage and picturesque Wheathampstead.

To find out some interesting facts about Harpenden and places of interest in Hertfordshire and the surrounding areas you can click on the four boxes below.

 

 

To book a building survey freephone 0800 298 5424

 

1st Associated provide house survey, commercial survey, engineers reports, property training plus more all carried out by RICS surveyors in Harpenden and the surrounding areas.

Contact us today for a free, no obligation quotation, including building survey, structural survey, homebuyers reports and pre sales reports, for Harpenden and the surrounding towns and villages.

Get a survey quote:

Residential Building Survey Quote

Commercial Building Survey Quote or Schedule of Condition Quote

We carry out Structural survey, Structural Building survey on Residential properties and Commercial properties throughout Hertfordshire.

 

References:

Whilst a lot of this is written from general knowledge and local knowledge of the area and here are some websites that we think will be of interest to you in the Hertfordshire area some of which we have used for information and we would like to give them credit for this.

BishopsStortfordHistory, EnjoyHertfordshire.com, StAlbansCathedral.com, StAlbansMuseums.org, AllAboutStAlbans.com, TringFestivalCompany.co.uk, BishopsStortford.org, Hertfordshire.com, lgc.amolad.net, Letchworth.com, FirstGardenCity.co.uk, LetchworthGC.com, Wheathampstead.org, Hemelweb.demon.co.uk, HemelToday.co.uk, HatfieldHouse.co.uk, AboutBritain.com, InformationBritain.co.uk and TheGalleria.co.uk