Leasehold
The lease requires consent before you sublet. Can the condition ratings tell you whether that consent was given?
No. Consent to sublet is a permission under the lease, usually a letter or a licence from the landlord. Condition ratings describe elements of the building. They do not record whether consent was asked for or given, and they stay silent even if the flat is furnished as if someone else already lives there. Ask the solicitor to see the consent, not the surveyor to infer it.
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?
The clue that misleads people is occupation. A flat with tenants' belongings, a lockbox, or a room laid out as a let looks as if consent must exist. It might, or the letting might have happened without it. The surveyor is not the landlord's consent register. They do not read the licence, do not know whether consent was refused, and do not advise whether your own future letting would be allowed. The lease requirement is a legal limit. The ratings are comments on roofs, walls, services and finishes that were seen.
If you plan to sublet, ask the solicitor to check the clause, any conditions, and whether a fee is reserved. Ask them to look for an existing consent if the seller has been letting. Separately, read the survey for anything a tenant would live with: damp, fire doors, windows, heating. Those findings matter to you as incoming leaseholder. They are not a green light that the landlord has agreed, and they are not a refusal. Keep the licence in the legal file where a permission belongs.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Did you see a subletting licence, or only the rooms?
- Does furniture that looks like a let change any rating? It should not.
- Which defects would still matter to an occupier even after consent is sorted?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the solicitor for the consent clause and any licence already granted.
- Do not read occupation as proof the landlord agreed.
- Keep condition findings separate from permission to sublet.
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 lease bans subletting, can a rating 1 override the ban?
No. A favourable rating does not amend the lease. Consent rules stay in the lease.
Does the surveyor contact the landlord to ask about consent?
No. That question is for your solicitor. The inspection does not run the landlord's consent file.