Leasehold

How should a buyer separate a shared-ownership stair window, the lease plan and who repairs it, which the survey does not settle when all three are mentioned together?

Separate the stair window, the lease plan and the repairing duty. The window is the part a survey can look at: frame, glass, leaks, rot. The lease plan is the drawing that shows whether that window sits in your demise, a shared stair, or the landlord's structure. Who repairs it is a lease question. The survey does not settle the plan or the duty when all three are mentioned together. Condition, if it was seen, is not a decision about responsibility. Shared ownership does not change that 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?

In shared ownership you buy a share and pay rent on the rest, but the physical window is still governed by the lease, not by the share the marketing names. A stair window may light a common stair rather than a room in the demise. The surveyor can see staining or a failed sash. They cannot see the red line on the lease plan by looking at the glass. Responsibility for decoration, glass and structure may be split in the lease. None of that is decided by describing the defect.

Ask the solicitor to read the lease plan and the repairing covenants against this window, and to say who does the work. Give them the survey note of condition, and ask them not to treat it as the covenant. Do not ask the surveyor who owns the stair. If the window is in disrepair, the legal duty and the visible defect can both be true and still be different facts. Keep the two papers apart.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Does the lease plan put this window inside the demise or the common stair?
Which covenant names the repairing party for that element?
What condition did the survey actually record on the frame or glass?

What are the typical next steps?

Keep the window's condition separate from the lease plan.
Ask the solicitor who repairs the stair window.
Do not treat the survey as a decision on that duty.

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 the condition of the glass decide the repairing covenant?

No. Glass and frame condition are what the survey can see. The covenant is in the lease. Shared ownership does not let the survey settle who repairs the stair window. The solicitor reads the plan and the duty. The report only records condition.

Is the stair automatically inside the share being bought?

No. The share is a legal interest. Whether the stair window is demised, shared or the landlord's is a question for the lease plan. The survey has not settled it. Do not assume a window you can see on the way up is yours to repair, or that it is not.