Leasehold

The management pack has one year's accounts and the agent said there were more. What accounts has the survey not audited?

The survey has not audited any of the accounts. It has not audited the one year in the management pack, and it has not audited the further years the agent said exist but did not include. A home survey does not audit service-charge accounts at all. The pack is a legal bundle. The agent's remark is a remark. Neither turns the surveyor into an accountant, and neither puts the missing years into the report. What the survey has not audited is every year, present or absent.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

What is the fuller explanation?

Service-charge accounts show income, spending and, where they are complete, the reserve. One year can hide a cycle of major works that sits in the years either side. The agent saying there were more is a reason for the solicitor to call for them, not a reason to pretend the survey read them. Even the year that is present was not tested, sampled, or reconciled by the surveyor. The inspection was of the building. The accounts, missing or not, stayed outside that job.

Ask the solicitor to require the missing years and to read them with the year you have. Ask what they show about roof works, arrears and the reserve, which are money questions. Do not ask the survey to fill a gap it has no figures for. If the building itself needs comment, that is already a different document. The survey has not become an audit because the pack was thin.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Did you audit any service-charge accounts, including the year in the pack?
Are the further years the agent mentioned outside the report entirely?
Which building findings should not be confused with an accounts opinion?

What are the typical next steps?

Treat every year of accounts as unaudited by the survey.
Ask the solicitor to obtain the years the agent said were missing.
Do not read the building report as a check on those figures.

Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.

Also asked about this

If one year is in the pack, has the survey at least checked that year?

No. Inclusion in the pack is not a check. The survey has not audited the year you can see, any more than it has audited the years you cannot. A home survey does not test service-charge figures. The solicitor, not the surveyor, should read the year that was provided.

Does the agent's remark put the missing years into the report?

No. A remark that more years exist does not attach those years to the survey, and it does not create an audit of them. The report has not seen the figures. Ask the solicitor to collect the papers. Until they arrive, the survey still has not audited them.