Leasehold

A Section 20 notice is already in the management pack for roof works. Does the survey replace that consultation, or sit beside it?

The survey sits beside the Section 20 notice. It does not replace that consultation. The notice already in the management pack is the landlord's consultation about roof works. The home survey describes the roof it saw. It does not count responses, does not check the stages of the notice, and does not decide that the process was followed. Read them as two papers: one about condition, one about consultation. Neither turns into the other because they arrived in the same story about the roof.

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?

Section 20 is the consultation process a landlord uses before certain works or long-term agreements, so leaseholders can see what is proposed and comment. The notice in the pack is that process, already started. A survey is an opinion on condition for a buyer. It can agree the roof looks as if it needs work, or it can describe something the notice does not mention. It does not extend a deadline, count observations, or stand as the landlord's notice. The papers sit side by side.

The solicitor should read the notice, any specification attached, and where the process has got to, and should explain what that means for the service charge you might inherit. The survey does not do that reading. Use the survey to understand the roof. Use the notice to understand the consultation. Do not reply to the landlord as if the survey were your formal observation, unless the solicitor tells you that is the document they want sent.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Have you kept your roof description separate from the Section 20 notice?
Did you check the consultation stages, or leave that unread?
What roof defects did you see that the notice may or may not cover?

What are the typical next steps?

Read the survey and the Section 20 notice as separate papers.
Ask the solicitor how far the consultation has gone.
Do not treat the survey as a substitute consultation response.

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 you disagree with the proposed roof works, does the survey become your objection?

No. Disagreement is something the solicitor may help you put into the consultation, if you are entitled to respond and if the stage allows it. The survey is evidence of condition you can show them. It is not, by itself, the observation the notice invited.

Can the surveyor say the consultation has already finished?

Not from a home inspection. Whether a notice process has closed is a management fact read from the pack and the dates in it. The survey sat beside the notice. It did not adjudicate the process or decide its timetable.