Leasehold

The private stair to the upper maisonette is said to be demised and the survey rates the treads. What repairing duty has the rating not decided?

The rating has not decided who must repair the stair. The treads are rated from what the surveyor saw: wear, stability, or the condition of the flight to the upper maisonette. Someone has said the stair is demised, which would usually mean it forms part of the maisonette rather than a common part, but the survey has not read the lease and has not turned that saying into a repairing duty. A condition rating describes the timber or the finish. It does not name the landlord or the leaseholder as the person who must put it right.

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?

In a maisonette the stair is often the only way to the upper floor, and it may be inside the demise or it may be a shared flight the lease treats differently. Demised is a lease word. It has to be checked against the demise, the plan and the repairing covenants. The surveyor can say the treads are worn, loose or uneven. That is condition. Whether the leaseholder repairs, the landlord repairs, or a service charge pays, is not settled by giving the flight a rating.

Ask the solicitor to confirm the stair is demised and to point to the clause that says who repairs it. Pass them the survey rating so they know the treads were commented on, not so they treat the rating as the covenant. If the stair is in fact common, the service-charge route is a different conversation. The survey has not chosen between those routes. It has rated what was underfoot.

What should you ask your surveyor?

What condition of the treads led to the rating?
Have you left the repairing duty under the lease undecided?
Was the stair seen as a private flight, without the demise being read?

What are the typical next steps?

Read the rating as condition of the treads, not as a repairing duty.
Ask the solicitor to confirm the stair is demised and who repairs it.
Keep any service-charge question separate until the lease is read.

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 handrail is loose, does that decide the landlord must fix it?

No. A loose handrail is another condition point on the same flight. It still does not read the lease. The survey rated the treads and has not decided the repairing duty, whether the defect is a tread or a rail. Ask the solicitor who covenants to repair. Do not promote a loose rail into a decision about the landlord.

Does a demised stair mean the structure below the treads was opened?

Not necessarily. Saying the stair is demised describes tenure, if the lease agrees, not how much of the flight was opened up. The survey rated the treads it could see. It has not decided the repairing duty, and it has not exposed the carriage or the soffit unless the report says it did. Visible treads are the limit of that rating.