Age and type of house
What should you ask if a house called Georgian has a front vault or coal cellar the surveyor did not enter?
Ask for that vault to be treated as not inspected, and do not call the front room dry because the street looks fine. These vaults sit under the pavement, take water through the stone, and are often locked. A home survey that did not enter has not seen the timbers over them. “Georgian” is not a rating and not a date proved by the survey.
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?
The defects that hide there are wet masonry, rotten beams carrying the ground floor, and a coal hole or pavement light that lets rain in. That is not rising damp in the rear kitchen, though both can exist. A RICS inspection stops at a locked door. It does not become a check of what sits under the pavement because the house is old.
If the floor above feels uneven, say so, and ask for access before you price a new floor. There is no RICS price for opening a pavement light. Do not lift the public pavement. Listing, if the house is listed, is a consent question for works, not the key to the vault.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Was the vault locked, flooded, or simply not offered?
- What could you see of the floor structure from above?
- Are you separating this from damp elsewhere in the house?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the seller to open the vault before exchange if the ground floor matters.
- Do not assume a coal cellar is a habitable room.
- Keep pavement lights and the rear damp-proof course as two notes.
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 basement flat the same as a vault?
No. A vault under the pavement is often a leftover cellar. A basement flat is a room. The survey should say which it entered.
Does a dry hall prove the vault is dry?
No. The hall is not the vault. Not entered means not entered.