Leasehold

The pack includes a consultation letter about the roof and the survey does not say which stage it is. Whose job is the stage?

Naming the stage of that consultation is the solicitor's job, not the survey's. The pack includes a letter about the roof, and the survey does not say which stage the letter is. A home survey can describe the roof it could see. It does not classify a landlord's consultation papers or decide how far that process has run. The stage has been left unidentified on purpose. The survey has not read the letter as a first notice, a set of estimates, or a later notice of reasons. Those labels belong to the lease papers.

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?

Consultation about major works on a leasehold block moves through written stages, and one letter is only one of them. Which stage it is depends on the wording, on what was served before, and on what the landlord still has to send. The surveyor was not asked to make that legal reading. A comment on the roof, if the survey made one, is about coverings or leaks that could be seen. It does not become a consultation stage because the letter mentions the same roof.

Ask the solicitor to name the stage of the consultation letter and to say what part of the process is still ahead. GOV.UK explains that leaseholders can look at service charges and at how major works are consulted on. That is a reading of the legal pack. Do not ask the survey, after the visit, to stamp a stage on the letter. Do not treat an early letter as proof the roof works are agreed, or a later letter as proof they are finished. The survey has decided neither.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Did you leave the stage of the consultation letter unidentified on purpose?
What, if anything, did you record about the roof apart from that letter?
Is the stage a question for the solicitor rather than for this report?

What are the typical next steps?

Leave the consultation stage with the solicitor.
Keep any roof condition note separate from the letter.
Do not treat the letter as agreement that the works are done.

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 letter names the roof, has the survey priced those works?

No. A letter about the roof does not put a scheme of work into the survey, and this report has not priced anything. The stage of the consultation is still for the solicitor to read. A condition comment, if there is one, is not the landlord's estimate and is not a label for the stage.

Can a worn roof tell you the consultation has reached its last stage?

No. Wear is condition. The stage is whatever the papers say, and the survey has not classified them. A poor roof can sit next to an early letter or a late one. The solicitor matches the letter to the process. The survey of the building does not.