Age and type of house

What does a survey of a flat above a shop leave to the solicitor?

It leaves the lease, who repairs the structure between the shop and the flat, and any fire separation the surveyor could not open. The survey reports the flat and what was visible from the street and the common stair. It does not inspect the shop unless access was agreed, and it does not decide the commercial use.

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?

Flats over shops pick up noise, late opening, and sometimes a steel or timber beam the surveyor cannot see. A stain on the flat’s floor may be the shop’s ceiling. You will not know unless someone looks from below. Ask whether the surveyor was allowed into the shop. If not, that is a limit, not a clean bill for the floor.

Your solicitor asks how the lease splits repairs, insurance and service charge between the flat and the shop, and whether the shop changes building-safety enquiries. This page does not set a height rule or a use-class rule. Those are legal questions. The survey’s job is condition, with the limits written down.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Did you enter the shop, or only the flat?
What could you see of the floor structure over the shop?
Which repair responsibilities should the solicitor read in the lease?

What are the typical next steps?

Ask the agent for access to the shop if the floor or the ceiling below matters.
Send your solicitor the survey limits, not a one-line summary that the flat ‘passed’.
Do not price a beam repair the surveyor never saw.

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 a shop below make the flat unmortgageable?

Not as a rule this page can state. Some lenders restrict mixed-use buildings. Ask the lender with the address.

Is the shop’s electrical test the flat’s test?

No. A test of the shop, if one exists, is not an EICR for the flat.