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Outbuildings and conservatories

What should you ask where a conservatory roof meets the house wall?

Ask about the flashing and the gutter at that junction, and about whether the conservatory was approved. Leaks start where the roof meets the wall, not in the middle of a panel. A home survey can see staining on the wall or a failed flashing. It does not grant planning permission or building-regulations approval for the structure.

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?

Glass roofs and plastic roofs fail at bars, flashings and outlets. The surveyor may not walk on the roof. A comment from a stain inside the conservatory is still a comment. It is not a test of the double glazing and not a certificate that the base was built as a proper extension.

The Planning Portal and GOV.UK explain when an extension or conservatory is building work. Your solicitor asks for the papers. A misted roof panel is a glazing defect with its own quote. Do not roll the legal question and the misted panel into one invented price. No national conservatory price is stated here.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Could you see the flashing, or only a stain?
  • Is the rating about the glass, the junction, or the base?
  • Which approval papers should be requested?

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Photograph the junction from inside and outside.
  2. Get a conservatory firm or a roofer to quote the junction that leaks, not automatically a new conservatory.
  3. Ask the solicitor about permission separately.

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 conservatory always permitted development?

No. The Portal sets tests and exceptions. The survey does not apply them.

Does a warm conservatory count as a room in the survey?

The survey describes the structure it could see. It does not award you an extra habitable room.

Sources