Leasehold
The upper maisonette's floor extends over the neighbour's porch. Why can the survey describe the floor timbers and still not define the flying freehold?
The survey can describe the floor timbers and still not define the flying freehold, because timber is a condition matter and the flying freehold is a title arrangement. The upper maisonette's floor extends over the neighbour's porch. That overlap can be seen. The inspection can comment on the timbers, their span and their condition as far as they were visible. It cannot say who owns the structure, the space or the repairing duty. Those sit in the lease or the transfer. Describing timber does not define the flying freehold.
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 the awkward case where part of one property sits over part of another and the titles have to say who holds the structure and who repairs it. The porch overlap is the physical clue. Floorboards, joists and a ceiling are what a survey can see or infer. The deed might give the upper owner the floor, the lower owner the porch roof, or a shared duty that neither inspection of timber will reveal. Condition sentences stay condition sentences.
The solicitor should read both titles for the flying-freehold wording, any covenant to repair, and any right of access to do the work. A lender may ask about that overlap. Answer from the deeds, not from the joist sizes. The survey can say the floor extends over the porch and can comment on the timber it saw. It must not be quoted as having defined the legal arrangement. It has not.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What timber did you actually see over the neighbour's porch?
- Did you stop short of defining who owns that overlap?
- Which repairing duty have you left to the deeds?
What are the typical next steps?
- Keep the timber comments separate from the flying freehold.
- Ask the solicitor to read both titles for the overlap.
- Do not quote the survey as a definition of ownership.
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 porch roof leaks, whose condition note is that?
The leak is a condition fact about the porch roof. Who must repair it is the flying-freehold question the survey has not defined. The upper floor and the porch covering may be different people's duty. The inspection can note a leak. The deeds name the duty.
Can the survey say which demise repairs the overlapping floor?
No. Visible joists do not allocate a repairing covenant. The solicitor reads the lease or the transfer before anyone allocates the duty. The survey's timber note remains a description of what was seen, not a ruling on the flying freehold.