Leasehold
The lease plan colours a store in the yard and the agent says it is demised. Can the survey award you that store?
No. The survey cannot award you that store. The lease plan colours a store in the yard, and the agent says it is demised, but award of a demise is a reading of the lease and the plan, not a finding from a site walk. The inspection can see a store and describe its condition. It cannot colour the plan, cannot prefer the agent's sentence to the document, and cannot give you the building.
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?
Demise is what the lease grants. A coloured store on a lease plan is evidence a solicitor reads against the wording, the Land Registry title and what is on the ground. An agent saying it is included is a sales sentence. The surveyor may find the store locked, dilapidated, or full of someone else's goods. None of those sights transfers the title. The report should not be quoted as having awarded the store because the door was looked at.
Ask the solicitor to read the lease plan and the demise clause and to say whether the coloured store is yours. Keep the survey, if it mentions the store, as condition only. Do not rely on the agent. Do not ask the surveyor to settle a conflict between the plan and the sales particulars. That conflict is the solicitor's, and the inspection has no power to award the yard store to you.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you award the yard store, or only see it if it was accessible?
- What condition comments, if any, apply without deciding the demise?
- Are you leaving the coloured plan to the solicitor?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the solicitor whether the lease plan demises the store.
- Do not treat the agent's say-so as the award.
- Use the survey for condition only, if the store was seen.
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 store key is handed over, has the survey awarded it?
No. A key is possession on the day, not a demise. The survey cannot award the store because a key was produced. The lease plan and the solicitor still decide whether the coloured store is part of what you buy. Handing over metal does not change the report into a title.
Can a damp store be rejected without knowing if it is demised?
You can note damp if it was seen. You still cannot tell, from the survey, whether the store is yours to reject. The agent says it is demised. The plan is coloured. The solicitor reads those against the lease. Condition and ownership stay separate, and the inspection awards neither the store nor an exclusion of it.