Leasehold

If the balcony ceiling looks like the neighbour’s floor, did the survey inspect the flat above?

No. A survey of one flat does not inspect the flat above. What you can see from below is the underside. The neighbour’s floor, their balcony build-up and their finishes were not part of this inspection, even if a stain seems to come from that direction.

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?

A floor between two flats can be a shared structure in ordinary language. That single point does not put the upper flat inside the report. The surveyor records the stain, the crack or the damp they could see in the flat they were instructed to inspect. They do not enter the flat upstairs unless that was a separate instruction, and a standard home survey of one demise does not become a survey of the block because the ceiling is someone else’s floor.

Ask the solicitor what the lease says about that structure and about who repairs it. The survey will not serve a notice, decide a dispute, or inspect hidden waterproofing in the flat above. If the finding is serious, the rating applies to what was seen here. It is not a diagnosis of the neighbour’s home. There is no fee in the RICS definitions for a second flat that was never opened.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Did you enter only this flat?
What could you see of the ceiling, and what is simply above it?
Are you leaving the repairing obligation to the solicitor?

What are the typical next steps?

Do not book works upstairs on the strength of a view from below.
Ask the solicitor who repairs the structure between the flats.
If access above is needed, that is a new permission, not a line already in this PDF.

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

Does a dry ceiling prove the flat above is sound?

No. You did not inspect it. A dry day from below is not a survey of the neighbour.

Can the managing agent’s comment replace the missing inspection?

It can be background. It is not the survey of the upper flat, and it does not change what this report left unseen.