Party walls and boundaries
The neighbour's scaffold stands on this roof and no licence is in the pack. Has the survey granted that right?
No. The survey has not granted the neighbour any right to stand scaffold on this roof. The scaffold was there, and no licence for it is in the pack. A home survey records that burden on the covering. It does not issue a licence, a party wall award or permission to leave the scaffold in place. GOV.UK explains party wall procedures for notifiable work. Those procedures are not a permit signed by the surveyor on this visit.
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?
Scaffold standing on a roof loads the covering, blocks inspection and can mark slates, flashings and gutters. It may also be oversail or access that needed a neighbour’s permission before it was put there. The visit can say the scaffold is present and that no licence was among the papers. It cannot invent the missing permission, decide how long the scaffold may stay, or say the roof agreed to carry it. The right, if any, lives in a document this pack does not contain.
Ask the solicitor to obtain any scaffold licence, party wall notice or neighbour’s consent, and to keep that paper off the survey. A lender may want the roof clear, or the right to load it explained, before it treats the covering as ordinary. The surveyor has not started a party wall process and has not authorised the scaffold. Arrange a proper look at the slopes once the stand is gone if the covering could not be seen.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Where does the scaffold actually bear on this roof?
- Which licence or award was missing from the pack?
- What wording shows the scaffold was recorded, not permitted?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the solicitor for any scaffold licence or award.
- Do not treat the survey as permission for the stand.
- Plan a closer look at the covering once it is clear.
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
Does party wall guidance licence a scaffold by itself?
No. GOV.UK guidance on party walls explains notices and disputes for notifiable work. It is not a licence for a neighbour’s scaffold to stand on this roof, and this visit did not issue one. No licence is in the pack. The report only records the scaffold. Any right to keep it there still has to be found in the papers.
Can the seller verbally allow the scaffold to stay?
A remark on the day is not the licence that is missing from the pack. The survey has not granted a right, and it will not turn a conversation into one. If the seller says the neighbour may stay, that needs to be in the written replies your solicitor can rely on. The report still only records the scaffold on the roof.