Leasehold
A roller-shutter box projects under the bay of a flat over a shop. Has the survey decided who must repair that box?
No. The survey has not decided who must repair the roller-shutter box under the bay. The surveyor can describe where it projects, whether it leaks, and whether the casing looks rotten or rusty. Who pays is a lease question. A home survey does not interpret the flat lease or the shop lease, and it does not allocate repairs between them. Your solicitor reads those documents. Condition of the box and liability for the box are separate.
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?
A shutter box under a bay is easy to see and easy to argue about. It may serve the shop, sit on the flat's structure, or be fixed to both. Leaks from it can stain the shopfront and the flat's window. The survey records the stain, the rust and the gap it could see. GOV.UK leasehold guidance is about the paperwork that says who repairs which part. That paperwork is not inside the survey PDF. Even a clear defect does not name the payer. Section headings in a report are condition, not a demise.
Send your solicitor a photo and the survey paragraph, and ask them which lease puts this box on the flat, the shop or the landlord. Do not deduct a repair from the price on the theory that you will not be the one who pays, unless the solicitor has read that duty. Equally, do not ignore rot because you hope the shop will deal with it. The survey has told you about fabric, if it could see it. It has not read either lease, and it will not become a management decision about the shutter.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- What condition did you record on the shutter box itself?
- Did you see into the casing, or only the outside of the projection under the bay?
- Are you leaving the question of who repairs it entirely to the solicitor?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask your solicitor, not the surveyor, which lease repairs the shutter box.
- Use the survey only for the condition you can point at.
- Do not assume the shop lease and the flat lease say the same thing.
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 box is rusty, is the flat owner automatically responsible?
The survey cannot say. Liability sits in the leases. Rust is only the condition of the metal that was seen.
Does a flat survey read the shop lease as a side task?
No. It does not interpret either lease. Your solicitor collects and reads those documents.