Our team prepares these reports under RICS regulation from our Hampshire office, which covers the Dorset coast as a natural extension of the Hampshire service area. BRE 209 (2022) is the working reference. For larger developments that could affect a neighbour's legal entitlement to light, rights of light assessments sit alongside the planning piece. Where the scheme involves building over an existing property, airspace development advice sits alongside the daylight piece.
Overshadowing analysis on ground-level amenity tests the 21 March sun position recommended in the guidance. Sunpath studies sit alongside where seasonal access matters for the scheme, particularly on the harbourside and high-value coastal plots where orientation drives much of the result. Trees within the impact zone are factored in, with retention or removal flagged where it changes the outcome of the assessment.
A typical turnaround is 2 to 3 weeks from instruction. Calls are answered by a qualified surveyor, and a free initial assessment sets out scope before any fee is committed. This is a bespoke surveying service shaped to each scheme.
BRE 209 reference values are guidance, not pass or fail. Reports are turned around in 2 to 3 weeks. The free initial assessment is the way in for borderline cases or for early advice on scope and feasibility before the planning programme commits to a particular form. Most schemes benefit from the early conversation.
