Leasehold
The store cupboard drawn on the lease plan is on a different landing from the one you were shown. What should the survey not correct in the plan?
The survey should not redraw the lease plan and should not declare that the cupboard you were shown is the one drawn on another landing. It can say which cupboard was opened, if any was opened, and where that door sits in the common parts. Putting the plan right is conveyancing. A photograph of a store is not a correction to the demise.
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?
Mislabelled stores are a classic flat problem. The seller shows you a cupboard beside the flat. The plan, often a reduced copy, shows a store on the landing below, or a cage in a basement the surveyor was not offered. The inspection can record the door that was opened, what was inside, whether it was damp, and whether the lock looked secure. It cannot move a red line on the lease plan, cannot decide that a handshake on the landing transferred the other store, and cannot tell you the plan is wrong in law. The survey does not decide demise.
Tell the solicitor about both locations in plain words: the door you were shown, and the door the plan seems to draw. Ask them to compare the plan, the lease description and, if needed, the registered title. Ask the surveyor only to confirm what they saw, not to certify that the seller's cupboard is included. If the shown store is damp or unsafe, that condition still matters only if it turns out to be yours, or if it is a common part you will help pay for. The plan correction, if one is needed, is not a job for the rating boxes.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Which cupboard did you open, and where is that door?
- Did you see the store drawn on the plan, or a different door?
- Will you stop short of correcting the lease plan in the report?
What are the typical next steps?
- Describe both cupboards to the solicitor without picking a winner.
- Ask the surveyor only which door was opened.
- Do not amend the lease plan in the margin of a photograph.
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 seller has the only key, is that store yours?
Not on the key alone. Possession is a clue. The plan and the lease decide, and the survey does not redraw them.
Can a damp comment on the shown cupboard change the plan?
No. Damp is condition of the room that was seen. It does not move the store from one landing to another.