Drone survey in Sidmouth

Sidmouth is around thirty-five minutes from Exeter via the A3052, the longest run of this group but still comfortably within routine coverage, with the drive already folded into the fixed price. The town sits in a steep-sided valley at the mouth of the Sid, closed in by Peak Hill to the west and Salcombe Hill to the east, both rising well over 150 metres.

That valley setting means the town reads very differently from the air than most inland Devon towns on this list, more contained, with a clear edge where the Regency centre gives way to the hills either side.

Sidmouth's centre is one of the more architecturally complete stretches of Regency and early Victorian building in the county, with rendered and painted elevations and complex roof geometries. Booking a survey on one of these properties is rarely a quick standard job, since the roofline itself often needs more careful documentation than a straightforward modern roof would, and that is worth allowing time for when arranging the visit.

Further up the valley sides sit later villas, and Sidford and Sidbury towards the edge of town carry more conventional post-war housing, where booking tends to be a simpler, faster process.

The esplanade and the seafront properties are a distinct group again, and Sidmouth's popularity as a resort means visiting owners or holiday-let managers sometimes need a survey arranged around a specific window when the property is unoccupied, which is worth flagging at the time of booking rather than left until the day.

Connaught Gardens and the Jurassic Coast cliffs either side of the town are well known local landmarks, and their proximity to the esplanade properties is a useful reference point when confirming exactly which building a booking covers.

That Jurassic Coast frontage also brings aerial photography enquiries in their own right, quite apart from any property survey, since the cliffs and the esplanade together make for a shot that is hard to get from anywhere at ground level. Given how much of the town's character comes from its setting, a booking that takes in both a seafront property and a house up one of the valley sides in the same trip is worth discussing in advance, since the two are only a short flight apart despite feeling like different parts of Sidmouth.

Being the furthest town in this group from the Exeter base, a Sidmouth visit is the one most likely to be scheduled alongside a stop in Budleigh Salterton, Ottery St Mary, Honiton or Seaton on the same day, which can be worth raising if a booking has any flexibility on timing.

The EX10 postcode covers Sidford and Sidbury too, further up the valley, so it helps to be clear about exactly which part of the postcode a property sits in when booking, since the esplanade and the villages up the valley are quite different visits in practice.