House surveys in East of England

The East of England stretches from the London commuter belt in Hertfordshire and south Essex to the rural Fens, the Norfolk Broads and the Suffolk coast. Close to London the housing is dominated by Victorian and Edwardian commuter suburbs, inter-war semis and the post-war new towns of Stevenage, Harlow, Basildon, Hemel Hempstead, Hatfield and Welwyn Garden City, followed later by Peterborough's expansion. Further north and east, historic market towns and cathedral cities such as Norwich, Cambridge, Ely and Bury St Edmunds have timber-framed, flint and brick buildings in large numbers, often listed.

For surveys, the region's geology and coastline matter more than mining. London Clay in Essex and south Hertfordshire, Gault and Oxford Clay in Bedfordshire and Cambridgeshire, and boulder clay across much of Suffolk and Norfolk are all prone to shrinking and swelling, so subsidence near trees is one of the most common issues. The chalk of Hertfordshire and Norfolk can contain solution features and old chalk mines. The Fens and the coast face significant flood risk, and parts of the Norfolk and Suffolk coast are eroding.