Basements and cellars
A coal cellar runs out under the pavement and the survey could see the vault. What highway right has that view not decided?
Seeing the vault has not decided any highway right. The coal cellar runs out under the pavement and the survey could see that vault, so the structure beneath the flags was visible from inside. Seeing it does not decide whether the highway authority has rights over the surface, whether the vault is in the title, or who maintains the pavement above. The survey recorded a vault under the pavement. It has not read the title and it has not determined a highway right.
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?
Cellars that extend under the street are a familiar older form. The brick vault may go with the house while the pavement above is still highway. Both can be true, and neither is proved by standing in the cellar and looking up at the flags. The surveyor can comment on cracks or damp in the vault they could see. They cannot grant or refuse a highway right. That is a legal question, and this inspection has left it open.
Ask the solicitor whether the vault is in the title and what highway rights affect the pavement over it. Do not assume you own the pavement because you can see the cellar underneath, and do not assume the council owns the vault because people walk above. If the vault is damp or cracked, keep that as a condition note separate from the legal question. The survey has decided neither the right nor the title.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Has any highway right over this vault been left undecided?
- Did seeing the cellar from inside settle the pavement above?
- Is title to the vault a question for the solicitor?
What are the typical next steps?
- Treat the view of the vault as condition, not as a highway decision.
- Ask the solicitor whether the vault is in the title.
- Keep damp or cracks in the vault separate from the legal question.
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 vault brickwork is sound, do you own the pavement?
No. Sound brickwork is a condition comment on what the survey could see. It does not decide a highway right and it does not put the pavement into the title. The cellar runs under the flags. Who owns which part is for the solicitor. A fair vault is not a legal award.
Does a council plate in the pavement mean the council owns the cellar?
Not decided here. Street furniture on the pavement is not a reading of your title, and the survey has not made it one. The vault was seen from inside. That view has not decided the highway right. Ask the solicitor to separate the surface, the vault and any authority rights, using the documents rather than the plate.