Leasehold

You are staircasing a shared-ownership lease and a survey has been done for the purchase. What share of the building has that survey not valued?

The survey has not valued any share of the building. It was done for the purchase, so it describes condition within the limits of the visit. It has not valued the share you already hold, the further share you are staircasing, or the share the landlord keeps. Staircasing price is a valuation of shares, which is a different instruction. Nothing in the condition report is that price. No share has been valued, and none should be invented from the survey.

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?

Shared ownership means you buy a share, and staircasing is how you buy more. A surveyor walking the house can tell you about the roof and the services they could see. They cannot turn that walk into the price of a share. GOV.UK warns that extending a shared-ownership lease can be much more expensive below 80 years. That warning is about an extension. It is not a sum this survey has calculated, and it is not a reason to treat the condition report as a valuation of any share.

Ask whoever is handling the staircasing for the valuation they actually require, and keep it separate from this survey. Your solicitor should look at the lease term as well, because the extension warning is a legal cost point, not a defect. Do not ask the surveyor to name a share price, and do not work one up from a condition rating. The home survey has inspected the building for the purchase. The shares remain unvalued by it.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Did this instruction include a valuation of any share, or only condition?
Which parts of the building were not inspected, whatever share is being bought?
Are you leaving staircasing price to a separate valuation?

What are the typical next steps?

Do not use the survey as a valuation of any share.
Ask the staircasing valuation to be instructed separately.
Ask the solicitor about the lease term as well as the building.

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 survey is recent, can it price the extra share?

No. Recent condition comments are still condition comments. They do not value the share you are buying or the share the landlord keeps. Staircasing needs the valuation that process asks for, which this survey has not given. Condition, however recent, is not the price of the extra share.

Does a sound roof mean the landlord's share has been valued?

No. A comment on the roof is about the roof. It does not value the landlord's remaining share or your share. The survey has not valued any share of the building, sound roof or not. A sound roof is fabric. It is not a valuation of either share.