Barker Land Surveying Inc

We have used Steve Barker for several house purchases over the past 15 years. We have always found his reports to be thorough, clear and concise. They are explained so that any normal person can understand and will realise the issues they will face when purchasing, and if there are any issues in understanding, Steve will explain the problem clearly in layman’s terms. Above all I appreciate Steve for his thoroughness, honesty and integrity. I would not go anywhere else and would not hesitate to use Steve again for his surveying skills.

Extremely poor experience. Unresponsive, doesn't answer clear questions, doesn't safeguard or care about your interests. E-mails make reference to technical terms that a layperson cannot understand, requests for clarification then aren't responded to. Not an advertisement for RICS surveyors. I had appointed Steve to support me in a fairly straightforward party wall matter where I was adjoining owner and my neighbour a large organisation. When it became clear that my neighbour/my neighbour's builders weren't complying with the award, Steve was ineffective in supervising the site he didn't deem it necessary to come out to inspect what was actually happening on site and only sent e-mails to the building owner's surveyor while I was suffering daily with avoidable dust and noise. My neighbour then didn't address substandard work, leading to water ingress into my property, leading to material damage, increased heating costs and great distress for me. It took daily calls to Steve, and contacting the third surveyor, to get any movement on this, while the water damage was continuing every time it rained. Half a year on, it is only through persistent chasing-up of repeated never adhered-to promises of updates over many months, that I eventually got a "resolution. This came through very quickly all of a sudden after I had asked for a copy of the complaints handling policy. On the other hand my question, asked seven times in seven separate e-mails over the course of several weeks, if there are any RICS guidelines as to how timely surveyors should be in their responses to questions, remains unanswered to this day. But the "resolution" was not the promised update or the promised responses to questions: Steve sent me, without any consultation, and without further comment, a "final award" which deems that I be compensated with £500.00. This is after Steve had confirmed to me on the telephone that my neighbour was offering £750.00 for the dampness only and would be writing to me about this - something that never materialised. Steve has at various stages made, or relayed as true, incorrect claims - eg. claimed that remedial works were carried out on a day when my mother happened to be in the house and we know that no works took place he has so far not withdrawn or corrected this claim, or that a water test to confirm that remedial works had been successful was carried out by my neighbour's builders after much chasing and asking again and again, he corrected himself on this point. Steve had also, when builders, without prior notice, removed cast iron downpipes on my property and I phoned him about this, incorrectly advised that this was not covered by the award, which is simply not the case. He so far hasn't deigned to acknowledge that these works were indeed covered by the award and his statement to the contrary was incorrect. If you are looking for a surveyor who deals with you openly and honestly and who protects your interests and your property from avoidable damage - look elsewhere.

We used Barker for our first home purchase. The survey was quick and concise and the service we received went above and beyond with expertise and knowledge. Would highly recommend.

For any Party wall matters or boundary issues I wouldn't go anywhere else. An obvious wealth of knowledge and experience made the process go smoothly with no issues. Would 100% recommend to anyone and would use again!

Extremely helpful and professional when surveying our property. Happy to discuss the questions we had over the phone and explain the details we weren't sure on. Highly recommend, have used twice now.