Cost Before Keys: Know what the work could cost before you buy.

Services & pricing

A considered view, at a clear fee.

Survey repairs, planned improvements or both. Choose the depth of assessment appropriate to your decision. No VAT charged.

01

Property Cost Snapshot

A concise initial budget assessment of likely repair or refurbishment expenditure before you make an offer.

24–48 working hours after all information is received · report length approx. 4–6 pages

For straightforward homes with a limited number of work items — not comprehensive refurbishments, complex extensions or extensive survey defects.

  • Review of your particulars, photographs and documents
  • Review of your proposed works
  • Concise indicative construction cost ranges
  • Significant assumptions and uncertainties
  • Key construction considerations
  • Priority works and potential expenditure

£179

No VAT charged

Start an assessment
02

Recommended for major works

Comprehensive Property Cost Report

A detailed financial picture of the property you’re considering buying.

Our flagship report provides a comprehensive breakdown of likely construction expenditure, helping you understand what needs doing, what it could cost, how the work could be phased and where unnecessary spending might be avoided.

2–3 working days after all information is received · report length approx. 15–25 pages

View a Sample Comprehensive Report
  • Everything in the Snapshot
  • Detailed property and customer brief
  • Review of survey findings where supplied
  • Itemised construction cost schedules
  • Descriptive scopes of work
  • Location-relevant pricing assumptions
  • Alternative specifications and approaches
  • Identification of potential duplicated expenditure
  • Sequencing and recommended phasing
  • Planning and Building Regulations considerations
  • Matters needing specialist investigation
  • Professional fee and contingency allowances
  • Indicative construction programme
  • Priority and urgency classifications
  • Total purchase investment illustration
  • Recommendations before exchange
  • One 15-minute post-report clarification call

£449

No VAT charged

Start an assessment
03

Site Visit & Detailed Assessment

A more detailed assessment of your proposed works, supported by a pre-arranged visit to the property.

Confirmed individually after the visit · report length supporting report

Available only where an experienced professional can attend; outside those areas you can send an enquiry. A visual construction cost assessment — not a RICS survey, structural inspection or defect diagnosis.

  • Review of supplied property information
  • Pre-arranged property visit
  • Visual assessment of accessible areas relevant to the works
  • Discussion of proposed improvements
  • Detailed indicative construction cost assessment
  • Access, sequencing and logistical considerations

From£795

No VAT charged

Send an enquiry

Indicative construction budgets, not fixed-price contractor quotations. No VAT is charged on our fees; VAT on construction works is shown separately in reports. Online payment is not yet available.

Started with a Snapshot? Upgrade to the Comprehensive Property Cost Report for the same property within 60 days and we credit £100 — a balance of £349. Applied once per assessment.

Add-on · existing customers, same property

Post-Survey Cost Update

Received a RICS survey after your cost report? We review it and update your existing report — not a complete new assessment.

  • — Review of your newly supplied building survey
  • — Additional repair items and cost implications
  • — Updated indicative construction allowances
  • — Revised budget summary
  • — Updated priorities and next steps
  • — Revised PDF report with version history

If the survey reveals substantial additional works or your project changes materially, we review the scope and quote separately before accepting the order.

£195

No VAT charged · not yet available to purchase online

The benchmark for the Comprehensive Report

See the full 22-page demonstration report for a fictional 1930s semi at 18 Larkfield Grove, Manchester.

View a Sample Comprehensive Report →

Compare packages

Property Cost Snapshot

£179

  • Indicative construction budgetsIncluded
  • Professional reviewIncluded
  • Key risks and recommendationsIncluded
  • Detailed itemised schedulesNot included
  • Alternative construction approachesNot included
  • Planning and regulatory considerationsNot included
  • Phasing and sequencingNot included
  • Total purchase investmentNot included
  • Physical property visitNot included
  • 15-minute clarification callNot included

Comprehensive Property Cost Report

£449

Recommended for major works

  • Indicative construction budgetsIncluded
  • Professional reviewIncluded
  • Key risks and recommendationsIncluded
  • Detailed itemised schedulesNot included
  • Alternative construction approachesNot included
  • Planning and regulatory considerationsNot included
  • Phasing and sequencingNot included
  • Total purchase investmentNot included
  • Physical property visitNot included
  • 15-minute clarification callNot included

Site Visit & Detailed Assessment

From £795

  • Indicative construction budgetsIncluded
  • Professional reviewIncluded
  • Key risks and recommendationsIncluded
  • Detailed itemised schedulesNot included
  • Alternative construction approachesNot included
  • Planning and regulatory considerationsNot included
  • Phasing and sequencingNot included
  • Total purchase investmentNot included
  • Physical property visitNot included
  • 15-minute clarification callNot included

Survey and cost report

A construction cost report is not a building survey. You may need both.

A building survey helps you understand the condition of a property. Cost Before Keys helps you understand what the repairs and improvements you know about — or are considering — could cost.

Our professionally reviewed construction budgets complement the findings of your surveyor, helping you make sense of the potential financial commitment before buying.

A RICS building survey

  • — Assesses property condition within the survey’s scope.
  • — Identifies visible defects and potential concerns.
  • — May recommend further investigations.
  • — May provide repair-cost advice, depending on the service agreed.
  • — Is undertaken by an appropriately qualified surveyor.
  • — Provides professional condition-related advice.

A Cost Before Keys report

  • — Reviews information supplied about the property.
  • — Considers the buyer’s intended improvements.
  • — Prepares indicative construction budgets.
  • — Explains cost implications of reported defects.
  • — Considers alternative construction approaches.
  • — Identifies construction sequencing and cost dependencies.
  • — Helps the buyer understand their potential expenditure.
  • — Is professionally reviewed from a construction cost perspective.

Cost Before Keys does not replace an independent property survey, structural assessment, specialist investigation or property valuation.