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Leasehold

Can you take a reserve or sinking fund with you when you sell a leasehold flat?

Usually no. GOV.UK’s leasehold page treats reserve or sinking funds as money set aside for future repairs, such as a roof, and says you will not usually get back what you paid in if you move. A home survey does not hold the fund and does not pay it out. A rating on the roof does not empty the account.

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?

The survey can tell you the roof looks as if it needs work. Only the accounts tell you whether a fund exists, what it is called, and what it is already committed to. GOV.UK puts the rules for those funds with the landlord’s management of them. The surveyor has not audited the account. A healthy balance is not proof the roof was inspected.

When you negotiate, do not add the fund to the price as if it were cash at completion, and do not ignore a rating 3 because a neighbour mentioned a pot of money. Ask the solicitor for the latest accounts. There is no RICS formula that splits a fund between a buyer and a seller.

What should you ask your surveyor?

  • Did you see any account, or only the building?
  • If the roof is poor, are you saying the fund will pay? You cannot know.
  • Are you treating reserve and sinking fund as a condition rating? They are not.

What are the typical next steps?

  1. Ask for the accounts and the name of the fund.
  2. Do not add the balance to your mortgage deposit in your head.
  3. If you are the seller, do not promise the buyer the fund as a personal refund.

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

Is a reserve the same word as a sinking fund?

GOV.UK heads them together as funds for future repairs. The lease may use one word. Read the lease, not this page, for the name.

Does a rating 1 roof mean the fund is yours?

No. The rating is condition. The fund still usually stays with the block.

Sources