Party walls and boundaries
The kitchen sits over a neighbour's alley. The survey can see the floor. Why can it not create the right of support?
The kitchen floor over the neighbour's alley can be seen by the survey, and that is all the visit can do with the right of support. Seeing joists, a crack or a sound ceiling from this side does not create a right of support, and it does not prove one exists. Title is for the solicitor and HM Land Registry. The survey describes the floor it could inspect. It cannot write a legal right into the alley or into the deeds.
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 flying freehold is a title arrangement: part of this building over land or a passage that belongs with someone else. The condition of the kitchen floor is a building question. The right to keep that floor in place, and to go there to repair it, is a title question. Mixing them lets a solid floor masquerade as a solved legal problem, which it is not.
Ask the solicitor what the title says about support and about access to repair, and give them the survey's notes on the floor as condition only. Do not tell a lender the right of support is 'in the survey'. It is not. If the floor itself is deflecting, that remains a condition comment and still does not create the right the title either holds or does not.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What of the kitchen floor could you see, and from which side?
- Are you describing condition only, and not a right of support?
- Will you direct the title question to the solicitor and HM Land Registry?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the survey on the condition of the floor over the alley.
- Ask the solicitor and HM Land Registry about the right of support.
- Do not treat a visible floor as a right the survey has created.
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 floor looks sound, does the right of support exist?
Not because of the survey. A sound floor is a condition comment. The right of support is a title matter for the solicitor and HM Land Registry.
Can the surveyor sign a deed of support?
No. The survey cannot create a right of support. Any deed or title entry is outside the inspection and belongs with the solicitor.