Leasehold

The housing association has asked for a valuation for staircasing and you thought it was a condition survey. What condition of the flat has that valuation not described?

The staircasing valuation has not described the condition of the flat. It is a valuation of a further share, asked for by the housing association, not a home survey of roofs, walls, services or damp. If you thought the visit was a condition survey, that expectation does not change the instruction. The valuation has not opened up the flat, not rated elements, and not told you what repair the building needs. GOV.UK warns that extending a shared-ownership lease can be much more expensive below 80 years. That warning is about the lease. It is not a condition description either.

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?

Staircasing is buying a larger share of a shared-ownership home. The figure attached to that step is a price for shares. A surveyor walking round to support a valuation is not, by that walk, reporting the condition a home survey would report. They may notice an obvious defect and still not be instructed to describe the flat. The housing association asked for a valuation. Read the paper you were sent for a share figure, and do not mine it for a damp diagnosis it was not asked to give.

If you need condition, instruct a home survey with a scope that includes the flat, and keep it apart from the staircasing valuation. Ask the solicitor to read the lease on repairing duties and on any lease-extension point. GOV.UK's warning that extending a shared-ownership lease can be much more expensive below 80 years is a lease warning. Do not invent a marriage-value sum from it. Do not tell the housing association that their valuation has already described the flat.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Was the instruction a valuation for staircasing rather than a condition survey?
Which parts of the flat did that valuation not describe?
Did you produce a share figure without rating the building elements?

What are the typical next steps?

Treat the housing association's paper as a share valuation.
Instruct a home survey if you need the flat's condition described.
Ask the solicitor to read the lease separately from that figure.

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 a careful valuer's note of a stain become a damp survey?

No. A note of something seen in passing is not a condition survey of the flat. The instruction was a valuation for staircasing. It has not mapped damp, not tested services, and not described the structure. If the stain matters, it needs its own inspection, not a promotion of the valuation.

Has the valuation decided what it costs to extend the shared-ownership lease?

No. GOV.UK warns that extending a shared-ownership lease can be much more expensive below 80 years. That is a warning, not a calculation, and this note does not invent marriage-value arithmetic. The staircasing valuation has not described the flat and has not priced a lease extension.