There is no single price for a tree survey, because no two surveys involve the same amount of work. What decides the cost is a short list of practical factors: how many trees have to be recorded, which type of survey is needed, whether drawings must be produced, and how easy the site is to reach and move around. What we can say plainly is this: the price we quote is the price you pay. Every Great Oaks quote is all-in, with travel and expenses included, and before we price anything we run a free scope check to confirm which survey you actually need, so you are never paying for the wrong one.
How many trees need recording
The biggest single driver of cost is the number of trees. Each tree that goes into a report has to be inspected, identified and recorded, with its condition assessed and any defects noted. A survey of one garden tree beside a house is a small piece of work. A survey of a hedgerow, a wooded boundary or a whole development site is a much larger one, both on the day and afterwards, when the findings are written up.
It is not always a straight count, either. Where a standard allows it, groups of trees can sometimes be recorded together rather than individually, which keeps the work proportionate. Our surveyors will tell you at the scope stage roughly what the site involves, so the quote reflects the trees that actually matter to your question rather than every stem on the land.
Which type of survey is being asked for
Different surveys answer different questions, and they involve very different amounts of work. A lender asking about trees near a property before a mortgage completes usually needs a focused report on a handful of trees, which is why a mortgage tree report is one of the quicker surveys to produce. A planning application is another matter: a BS 5837 tree survey has to follow the British Standard, categorise every relevant tree and feed into the design of the scheme, so there is simply more to do. Risk assessments for landowners and duty holders sit between the two, depending on how many trees are involved and how the findings need to be presented.
This is why our free scope check comes first. Before anything is priced, our team confirms which survey the council, lender or insurer is actually asking for, and names it. If a shorter report will satisfy the person requesting it, that is what we quote. The full range is set out on our tree surveys page.
Whether drawings are required
Some reports are words, tables and photographs. Others need plans: planning work in particular usually calls for the surveyed trees to be plotted on a drawing, with protection measures shown where building work will happen near them. Producing accurate plans takes time, and whether you already hold a topographical survey of the site makes a difference, because the trees have to be plotted on something. If suitable drawings exist we work from them; if not, that work forms part of the job. Either way we tell you at the scope stage whether drawings are needed, and if they are, they are inside the quoted price rather than an extra that appears later.
Access and the site itself
Time on site is the other cost. A level garden with the owner at home is quick to survey. Steep ground, locked land that needs keys or appointments, live commercial sites with their own induction requirements: all of these add time, and time is what a survey price is really made of. Distance plays a part too. We work across Preston, Lancashire and the North West, and travel is built into the figure we give you at the start. Nothing is added for mileage or expenses afterwards.
How the pricing works at Great Oaks
The process is deliberately simple. Tell us what you have been asked for, or what you are worried about, and our team will carry out a free scope check to name the survey you need. You then get a written all-in quote within one working day. If you go ahead, the survey visit is booked within days, and the report follows days after the visit, not weeks.
Two more things are worth knowing. First, the survey is independent. We do carry out tree work as well, but the report stands alone, never depends on any works being instructed, and is yours to take to any contractor you choose. Second, the work is properly backed: Great Oaks is an ARB Approved Contractor (AC2637), holds Constructionline Gold, and carries professional indemnity insurance for its survey work.
If you are unsure what your council, lender or insurer actually needs, use the free scope check form at our survey enquiry page or call 01772 369694. We will tell you what you need, and just as readily what you do not.
