Age and type of house

What should you ask about a coach house built over a parking bay?

Ask who owns and maintains the deck you live on, and whether the surveyor could see it. A coach house is a home over an open bay or a passage. The structure that spans the bay is the point. A home survey may see the rooms and not the beam under the floor. It does not read the estate’s management deed.

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?

Leakage from the deck, salt from the bay and a cold floor are condition. The estate charge for resurfacing is a lease or transfer question. GOV.UK explains leasehold service charges where those rules apply. Not every coach house is leasehold. The solicitor says which. The survey should not invent a freeholder.

If cars hit the posts, that is a structure comment only if damage is visible. The surveyor does not predict traffic. There is no price here for a new deck. If the rating says the span needs investigation, ask an engineer what they must see. Do not subtract a new parking pod from the price.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Could you see the underside of the floor over the bay?
Is there cracking at the supports?
Are you commenting on condition or on the estate charge?

What are the typical next steps?

Show the solicitor the deed and the survey together.
Do not buy the home because the bay is a useful parking space if the deck above is NI.
Ask the managing agent, if there is one, who repairs the soffit. Do not ask the surveyor to invoice them.

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

Is a coach house a non-standard concrete house?

Not by the name. Some are ordinary construction over a span. The survey should describe the materials it could see.

Does an EWS1 apply because there is a deck?

EWS1 is about external wall systems of certain blocks, for lenders. A parking soffit is not automatically that form. Ask the lender if they want one. The survey does not write it.