Leasehold

The service-charge apportionment is a percentage in the lease and the survey does not check the arithmetic. Whose job is that percentage?

That percentage is the solicitor's job, not the surveyor's. The lease states a service-charge apportionment as a share of the building's costs, and the survey has not checked the arithmetic. A condition report can note what the flat is and what is shared, but it does not add up the fractions, compare them with the budget, or say the share is fair. The figure lives in the lease. Someone has to read that clause and work it through against the accounts. The survey has left that sum alone.

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 apportionment is the portion of estate or block costs the lease says this flat must pay. It is often written as a percentage, sometimes as a fraction, and sometimes by reference to floor area or rateable value. Checking it means reading the clause, the plans if they are part of the sum, and the latest accounts. None of that is a damp reading or a roof note. The surveyor did not recalculate it, and a visual inspection of the flat cannot prove the share is right.

Ask the solicitor to check the apportionment against the lease and the service-charge accounts, and to say whether the share matches what the seller has been paying. The managing agent may hold the workings. A mismatch is a money point in the lease, not a crack in a wall. Do not ask the surveyor to certify the arithmetic. The report has already left that sum unchecked.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Did you leave the service-charge apportionment unchecked?
Is the percentage only in the lease, rather than in your measurements?
What shared parts, if any, did you see that would fall into that charge?

What are the typical next steps?

Treat the apportionment as a lease figure the survey did not check.
Ask the solicitor to work the share through against the accounts.
Do not treat a condition comment as proof the percentage is right.

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 the hall and the roof look tidy, is the share confirmed?

No. A tidy common part says nothing about the arithmetic in the lease. The survey can note the condition of halls and roofs it saw. It cannot turn that look into a checked percentage. The solicitor still has to read the clause and the accounts. Condition and the share of cost are separate.

Can the surveyor measure the flat and settle the percentage?

Not on this report. Measuring a room for the inspection is not the same as applying the lease's apportionment. The survey has not checked the arithmetic, and a floor area taken on the day does not become the service-charge share. If the lease uses area, the solicitor still has to apply the clause. The surveyor has not done that sum.