Leasehold
The lease plan the agent showed does not match the balcony you walked onto. Can the survey redraw the lease plan?
No. The survey cannot redraw the lease plan when the balcony you walked onto does not match the plan the agent showed. The inspection can describe that balcony: its deck, its railing and the door onto it. The lease plan is a document. The solicitor compares the plan with the demise, and HM Land Registry holds the title information. Walking the balcony does not amend the lease, does not decide what was demised, and does not turn a mismatch into a new plan.
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 often small drawings edged in colour. A balcony might be inside the edge, outside it, or not drawn. The balcony you stood on is a physical deck. If the agent's copy does not show it, the mismatch is between a drawing and the building. The survey records the building. It does not ink a new edge, and it does not decide whether the balcony is demised, retained by the landlord, or a later addition nobody documented. Those are title questions.
Give the solicitor the plan the agent showed and say which balcony you walked. Ask them to compare it with the lease filed at HM Land Registry, not with the survey text. The survey can confirm a balcony exists and can comment on its condition. It cannot tell you that you own it. Do not tell a lender the demise includes the deck because you were allowed to stand on it during a viewing.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you describe the balcony you saw, without redrawing the plan?
- What mismatch did you note between the agent's plan and the deck?
- Have you left the demise to the solicitor and the filed lease?
What are the typical next steps?
- Pass the agent's plan and the balcony mismatch to the solicitor.
- Do not treat the survey as a redrawn lease plan.
- Compare the filed lease, not the viewing, with the deck you walked.
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 you use the balcony, does use decide it is demised to you?
No. Use on the day of a viewing does not amend a lease. People stand on roofs, terraces and shared decks they do not demise. The survey has not turned occupation into title. The solicitor reads the plan and the filed lease.
Should the sales particulars be checked as well as the survey?
Yes, by the solicitor, against the lease. Particulars and an agent's plan can both be wrong in the same way. The survey does not correct them. It describes the balcony that exists. The document that defines the demise is the lease.