Leasehold

The lease plan puts the garden fence on a different line from the fence outside. Has the demise been redrawn?

No. The demise has not been redrawn. The lease plan puts the garden fence on a different line from the fence outside, and the survey records that mismatch. It does not vary the lease, move the legal boundary, or decide which line is the demise you would buy. The fence on the ground is a fact of the visit. The line on the plan is a fact of the document. The report has not merged them into a new demise.

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 demise is the extent the lease grants, and it is defined by the lease and its plan, not by where a later fence was dug in. Fences get renewed off line, and gardens get taken in or given up by habit. The surveyor can see the fence that is there and compare it with the drawn line. That comparison is a warning of a mismatch. It is not a deed of variation and not a surveyed boundary award.

Ask the solicitor to compare the lease plan, the fence and any later deed, and to say whether the demise matches the ground. Do not ask the survey to redraw the plan. A lender may want the extent confirmed from the title, not from a condition report. The home survey has flagged the difference. It has left the demise as the lease drew it until the papers say otherwise.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Which fence is on a different line from the lease plan?
Does the report say the plan was compared, or only that they differ?
What wording leaves the demise unaltered?

What are the typical next steps?

Treat the mismatch as a legal question for the solicitor.
Do not describe the ground fence as the new demise.
Ask whether any deed of variation already exists.

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 using the garden up to the outer fence extend the lease?

No. Using ground does not redraw the demise. The lease plan and the fence outside are on different lines, and the survey has not chosen the outer fence as the new boundary of what you buy. Ask the solicitor what the lease actually includes. The report only records that the two lines do not match.

Can a landlord’s email move the line to the fence?

An email is not a redrawing of the demise by this survey, and it may not vary the lease at all. The visit did not rewrite the plan. If the landlord says the fence is the line, the solicitor should say whether that is documented. Until the lease or a proper variation says so, the demise stays as drawn, and the mismatch stays unresolved.