Leasehold

The seller mentions a right-to-buy lease that this inspection did not read. Which repairing duties are still unread?

All of the repairing duties in that right-to-buy lease are still unread. The seller mentioned the lease and this inspection did not read it, so the survey cannot say what the leaseholder must repair, what the landlord must repair, or how the windows, the roof and the structure are split. A mention in conversation is not the document. Those duties sit in the lease. Until it is read, every repairing obligation in it remains unknown. The survey has not guessed a split.

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?

Right-to-buy leases are not all written the same way. Some put external and structural repairs on the landlord and internal repairs on the leaseholder, and some do not. The survey will not invent the version that applies here from the seller's remark. Service-charge and works clauses, if they exist, are unread as well. The inspection can describe cracked plaster or a tired roof. It cannot attach those defects to a party who must pay, because the lease was not in the pack.

Ask the solicitor to obtain the right-to-buy lease and to explain the repairing covenants, the service charge and any works clause before you rely on them. The survey has not calculated anyone's share of future work and has not read a notice about works. A lender may want the lease in the legal pack. Do not fill the gap with a standard ex-council account. This lease is the one that was not read.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Has the lease itself, rather than a remark about it, been seen by anyone acting for you?
Which parts of the building does the survey describe without naming who repairs them?
What should the solicitor extract about repairing covenants?

What are the typical next steps?

Ask the solicitor to obtain and explain the right-to-buy lease.
Do not assume a standard split of repairs from the seller's mention.
Keep the survey's condition notes separate from unread lease duties.

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

Can the inspection interpret a lease it was not given?

No. Interpretation of repairing duties is a legal reading of the document. This inspection did not have the lease, so it has not interpreted it. The surveyor describes condition. The solicitor reads who must repair. A conversation about a right-to-buy lease does not put the clauses into the report.

Has the survey worked out anyone's share of future building works?

No. The survey has not calculated anyone's share. No lease was read, so no works clause and no split of cost was available to apply. Condition findings stay in the report without a bill attached. The solicitor, with the lease, is the person who can explain how costs are divided. The inspection has not done that arithmetic.