Leasehold

The lease plan colours a cellar and the survey marks that cellar NI because it was locked. What of the cellar must you not treat as inspected?

Do not treat the inside of the cellar as inspected. The lease plan colours that cellar, which tells you the plan shows the space, but the survey marked it NI because the door was locked. The surveyor did not walk the floor, look at the walls, or record damp, tanks or structure in there. A coloured plan is a drawing. It is not a substitute for a visit. Whatever the cellar contains, the report has not described it, and you should not talk as if it had.

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?

Lease plans are coloured to show what the lease is talking about: a cellar included in the flat, or a space that belongs with the building. Colour does not mean the surveyor was let in. NI on that room is the surveyor's way of saying the door stayed shut on the day. Locked cellars often hide the very things a buyer later argues about, such as a sump, a damp wall, or stored landlord's plant. None of that was available to record.

Ask the solicitor what the coloured cellar is on the lease plan: demised to this flat, common, or something else. Ask the seller or the managing agent for access, and do not guess about a room nobody opened. If a later visit happens, that is a new look, not a correction already sitting in this report. The survey has not valued the cellar, and it has not said the lock was a problem in itself.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Which cellar was marked NI, and was the door locked?
Did you see any part of that cellar, even from the threshold?
Did the coloured lease plan stand in for a visit, or only show the space?

What are the typical next steps?

Treat the locked cellar as not inspected.
Ask the solicitor what the coloured cellar means on the lease plan.
Seek access before you rely on any description of that room.

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 stair down to the cellar was seen, is the cellar done?

No. A stair that could be seen is not the cellar. The NI mark is on the room behind the lock. Treads, a handrail or a door face do not describe the floor, the walls or anything stored below. The lease plan still only colours a space the surveyor did not enter. Keep the stair note and the cellar mark separate.

Does a dry hallway outside the cellar door clear the cellar?

No. The hallway is a different space, and it was not standing in for the locked room. Dry plaster outside the door says nothing about the cellar floor or walls. The survey marked the cellar NI because it was locked. Until it is opened, do not describe it as dry, damp, empty or sound.