Leasehold

A sales leaflet says commonhold and the document in the pack is a lease. Can the survey change the tenure to match the leaflet?

No. The survey cannot change the tenure to match the leaflet. A sales leaflet says commonhold and the document in the pack is a lease. Tenure is what the documents are, not what the brochure prefers. The inspection looks at the building. It does not convert a lease into commonhold, and it does not vote the leaflet into the title. The pack you were given contains a lease. That is the document the solicitor reads.

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?

Commonhold and leasehold are different ways of holding a flat. A leaflet can use the fashionable word while the engrossment in the pack is still a lease with a landlord, a term and a ground rent. The surveyor has no power to alter that. Describing cracks, roofs or services does not amend tenure. If both words appear, the conflict is for the solicitor, who will prefer the executed document and the register over a marketing sheet.

Hand the leaflet and the lease to the solicitor and ask which tenure the title actually is. Do not ask the surveyor to pick the leaflet because it sounds simpler. Do not tell a lender the flat is commonhold because the brochure said so. The survey cannot change the tenure. Condition of the flat is unchanged by the argument: the building is whatever was inspected, held on whatever the documents say.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Can you change the tenure from lease to commonhold to match a leaflet?
Which document did you rely on for condition, rather than for tenure?
Are you leaving the lease-versus-leaflet conflict to the solicitor?

What are the typical next steps?

Ask the solicitor which tenure the pack and the register show.
Do not treat the sales leaflet as the title.
Keep the survey as condition, not as a change of tenure.

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 leaflet is newer than the lease, does the newer paper win?

No. A newer leaflet is newer marketing. It does not update a lease and the survey cannot make it do so. The solicitor compares what was executed and registered with what is being said. Date order of a brochure is not a transfer of tenure. The inspection has nothing to add to that contest.

Can condition ratings differ if the tenure is commonhold?

The ratings describe fabric, not the form of ownership. They would not be rewritten because a leaflet says commonhold. The survey still cannot change the tenure. Ask the solicitor what you are buying. Use the report for the building, whichever name the marketing used.