As the founder of Southdown Surveyors back in 2006, Matthew’s commitment to providing honest, straight-talking professional advice and his dedication to producing high-quality technical work has earned the practice a good, solid reputation that in return, sees the benefit of much repeat business and word-of-mouth recommendation.
As Director of the practice, Matthew remains consistently aware of the high expectations of his clients, and consequently strives to meet and exceed those expectations.
Prior to Southdown, employment in London and Brighton based practices, working in varying professional areas, has resulted in him gaining the necessary experience and expertise to provide a particularly wide breadth of service offering.
He finds the ‘challenges’ that contentious Party Wall and Dilapidation matters so often bring, particularly interesting – and is therefore committed to continually increasing his knowledge in these areas. He is a member of The Pyramus and Thisbe Club – which promotes excellence in party wall practice.
Matthew’s initial post-education training as an Architectural Technician has further equipped him with the additional expertise of computer aided design (CAD) skills and an architectural design interest.
Outside of the practice, Matthew enjoys spending time with his young twin girls, renovating his home and ‘wild-camping’ in the woods!
Michael primarily works on pre-acquisition surveys but also works in our Party Wall, Contract Administration and Block Management departments. Michael’s property career has covered many aspects of property including Lettings, Block Management and management of student accommodation.
He has a friendly and approachable personality with a ‘can do’ positive attitude. Michael understands the need to follow the Southdown ethos – excellent communication coupled with clear and understandable reports.
Michael is the practice’s go-to analyst - there is not much he can’t find-out from his online resource, given a particular quest! Michael is proud to hold the additional accreditation of being a RICS Registered Valuer, and is optimistic about embarking on his journey towards become Chartered.
When not in the office Michael spends time with his young family and enjoying his hobby of amateur photography.
Jake first embarked on his Property Management career in 2016, initially as an Apprentice, and has since then gained an extensive knowledge of the leasehold sector over the years since.
Jake joined Southdown Estates in May 2023 to further his experience in the industry and to pursue his professional accreditations within the leasehold sector. He is actively progressing his Institute of Residential Property Management studies and is soon to obtain formal ‘member’ status.
Jake’s extensive experience, coupled with his calm persona, allows him to provide robust professional advice in a pragmatic and positive way.
During his spare time Jake enjoys staying active and spends time, camping, going to the gym, and exploring new places and countries.
Sat first gained his knowledge of the Leasehold sector and service charge practises through his role as a Residential Management Company (RMC) Director of a housing estate, which he has continued for the past 12 years. He has spent many years renovating his own property portfolio and acting as a Lettings Landlord. It was these skills provided the foundation that prompted Sat to pursue a career in Block Management and Surveying. Having previously worked for another Agent in Sussex, managing a Leasehold portfolio in Brighton, Sat joined Southdown Estates in January 2023 to bolster our Property Management team and to support our expanding client base.
Sat is a driven and ambitious individual and has a passion for property. He intends to further develop his career in the Block Management sector whilst expanding his understanding of Building Surveying by shadowing the staff of our sister Company; Southdown Surveyors.
Dedicated self-study meant that Sat undertook and passed his Member exams with The Institute of Residential Property Managers (MIRPM) and Associate member of the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (AssocRICS) within one year – a level that often takes Property Managers many years to achieve.
As well as his role as a Block Manager with Southdown Estates, Sat will be studying a RICS recognised degree in Building Surveying and working towards his Assessment of Professional Competency (APC) with the RICS.
When not at work, Sat can be found enjoying the great outdoors with his wife and two young daughters. He is a keen football fan and likes to keep active.
Having assisted Matthew in running the practice since 2008, Lisa strongly shares Matthew’s commitment to providing a down-to-earth, honest and reliable offering to clients.
‘Personal service’ is high on the list of priorities when it comes to the ethos embraced by Southdown, so Lisa is always keen to ensure that as a team, the best possible attention is given to all clients. Together Lisa and Matthew have strived to develop the company to what it is today.
After a short break from the practice following the arrive of twin baby girls, Lisa has reprised her role as an active Director in the practice; offering support and guidance to all her team members ensuring happy-ship is always sailing! She oversees the day-to-day practice management, regulatory compliance and financial administration.
As is the case for all working mums, Lisa juggles her commitment to the practice with her commitment to young twins – who can from time to time be found happily occupying a desk in the office!
Throughout her career, Caroline has worked in fast paced customer service and administrative roles; she has accumulated 5 years in Block Management / Estate Agency and brings excellent communication and interpersonal skills to the Southdown team. Caroline is a solid team player and could certainly be referred to as an important cog in the (office) machine!
She strives to provide a first-rate front of house experience for both Southdown Surveyors and Southdown Estates, helping to meet the individual needs of our clients on a day to day basis.
Her attention to detail, ability to multitask and her overall enthusiasm are what help our clients achieve their goals.
In her spare time Caroline loves taking Buster, the family dog for long walks, especially if there’s a good pub at the end of it and spending time with friends and family.
In his career to-date Adam has had the benefit of experiencing a variety of roles across various industries. The majority have been in the financial sector however; him having enjoyed both customer facing and back-office support roles. His interest in finance led him to obtain both his Level 2 and Level 3 AAT Accounts Technician qualifications. Since then he has held accounting roles within Eastbourne and Brighton based property management practices.
Adam works closely with Lynne and Laura to manage our client accounts; their day-to-day operation and service charge management. Away from work Adam enjoys time with his children encouraging them with their hobbies, some of which he shares, and has been involved in himself from a young age. These include wargaming, science fiction and fantasy, in many mediums, and a steadily growing interest in military history.
My wife and I used Southdown Surveyors during a recent potential house purchase. We had agreed a price on an older, character property and felt it best to fully assess the area and the property. We are both mightily pleased we engaged Southdown’s help as they flagged up some very serious, unseen defects in the property. As inexperienced first time buyers we would have been left having bought a seriously defective property with largely no sell on value and a huge bill simply to make habitable.
Southdown Surveyors were extremely professional, diligent and very helpful. They provide a thoroughly detailed breakdown of the property they survey, from little things like nearby trees that might invalidate house insurance to highly detailed information on the structure and wellbeing of the property.
I think in some cases there might be a tendency on the house buyer’s end to avoid engaging a full survey but with what we have experienced I would strongly advise anyone looking to buy a property to engage a thorough, proper survey. The outlay in doing so is relatively minimal and when you are making such a large financial, and life investment, having professionals on your side, and ones who will help you as Southdown Surveyors did for us, is absolutely invaluable.
Copyright © 2018 - Southdown Surveyors - Friston House, Dittons Business Park, Polegate, East Sussex, BN26 6HY - Privacy Policy
