Leasehold Conveyancing.

No — in most cases, leaseholders have a statutory right of first refusal under the Landlord and Tenant Act 1987. If a freeholder wishes to sell the freehold of a building containing qualifying flats, they must first offer it to the leaseholders at the same price they intend to accept from a third party. Leaseholders have a limited period to accept. If the freeholder sells without complying with this obligation, the leaseholders can apply to court to compel the purchaser to sell the freehold to them on the same terms. The right of first refusal applies to buildings where more than 50% of the flats are held on long leases — exceptions exist for resident landlords and certain other circumstances.

Mortgage lenders typically require a minimum lease term at the end of the mortgage period — usually at least 70 to 85 years remaining at completion, depending on the lender. In practice, a lease below 80 years is the critical threshold: once below 80 years, the cost of extending the lease increases significantly because the freeholder becomes entitled to a share of the increase in the property's value — known as marriage value. A lease below 70 years will be very difficult to mortgage at all. If you are buying a leasehold property with a short lease, you should factor the cost of extension into your calculations. Extending before the lease falls below 80 years is almost always cheaper than waiting.

Selling a leasehold property involves considerably more legal work than a freehold sale. The seller's solicitor must obtain official copies of the leasehold title, provide a copy of the lease, obtain a management pack from the freeholder or managing agent, deal with any enquiries arising from the lease or the management pack, serve any notices required by the lease on completion, and — in some cases — obtain the freeholder's licence to assign. The buyer's solicitor must review the lease in detail, raise enquiries about service charges and planned works, check the lease length, and report on any unusual or restrictive terms. For flats in taller buildings, Building Safety Act compliance must also be checked. All of this adds time and cost compared to a freehold transaction.

Leaseholders have several routes to challenge a freeholder who is failing to maintain the building. The First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) in England — or the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal in Wales — can determine whether service charges are reasonable and whether works have been properly carried out. Where a freeholder is in serious breach of their obligations, leaseholders can apply to the tribunal for the appointment of a manager to take over management of the building. In extreme cases, leaseholders can apply to court for forfeiture of the freehold. Documenting the freeholder's failures carefully — with photographs, correspondence, and records of reported defects — is essential when pursuing any of these remedies.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 provides for significant changes for leaseholders in England and Wales, although most are not yet in force. The one major change in force so far is the removal of the two-year ownership requirement (since 31 January 2025), so leaseholders can extend or enfranchise from the day they complete. Still to come, once secondary legislation is made: an increase in the standard lease extension term from 90 years to 990 years for both flats and houses; a reformed valuation methodology intended to reduce the cost of extensions and enfranchisement; the abolition of marriage value; and a ban on new leasehold houses in most circumstances. A legal challenge to the marriage value reform was dismissed by the High Court in October 2025, but implementation is being taken forward on a phased basis over several years, and in January 2026 the government published a draft Bill carrying the reforms forward. Separately, the Building Safety Act 2022 limits the remediation costs that can be passed on to leaseholders in buildings with fire safety defects. Take current advice on which rules apply to your situation.

A deed of variation is a formal document that amends the terms of an existing lease — agreed between the leaseholder and the freeholder. It is used where the current lease terms are problematic: for example, where a lease contains a doubling ground rent clause that a lender will not accept, where the permitted use needs to be changed, where alterations have been made without consent and need to be retrospectively approved, or where a lease term needs to be corrected. A deed of variation requires the agreement of both parties — it cannot be imposed unilaterally. Where a mortgage is in place, the lender's consent is also required. Deeds of variation can unlock transactions that would otherwise be unmortgageable.

A management pack — sometimes called a leasehold information pack — is a bundle of documents obtained from the freeholder or managing agent when a leasehold property is being sold. It contains essential information about the property including the current service charge accounts, any outstanding service charge arrears, details of buildings insurance, minutes of recent residents' meetings, details of any planned major works, and the current ground rent position. Buyers' solicitors require this information before exchange of contracts — and obtaining it can take several weeks, which is one of the reasons leasehold transactions take longer than freehold ones. Sellers should request the management pack as early as possible to avoid delays.

A service charge is a payment made by leaseholders to the freeholder or managing agent to cover the costs of maintaining, repairing, and insuring the building and communal areas. It can cover routine maintenance, buildings insurance, cleaning, gardening, lift maintenance, management fees, and contributions to a reserve or sinking fund for future major works. Service charges must be reasonable — leaseholders have the right to challenge unreasonable charges at the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) in England or the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal in Wales. Freeholders must consult leaseholders before carrying out major works costing more than £250 per leaseholder — failure to do so limits what they can recover.

Ground rent is an annual payment made by a leaseholder to the freeholder. Historically, ground rents ranged from a nominal peppercorn to significant sums with escalating clauses that doubled every few years, creating serious problems for leaseholders. The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 banned ground rents on new residential leases granted after 30 June 2022 — new leases must be at a peppercorn (effectively zero) rent. Existing leases with ground rent provisions are not retrospectively affected by that ban. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 is intended to go further and continue the direction of travel toward reducing and eliminating ground rents, but its further measures are not yet in force and are being implemented on a phased basis. If you are buying a leasehold property with an escalating ground rent clause, take advice on the implications before proceeding.

Leasehold enfranchisement is the legal process by which leaseholders acquire the freehold of their building — or, for house leaseholders, their individual freehold. Flat leaseholders can collectively enfranchise under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, provided qualifying criteria are met: at least half of the leaseholders in the building must participate, and at least two thirds must hold long leases. The price is calculated using a statutory formula and can be disputed at tribunal. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 has already removed the two-year ownership requirement (in force since 31 January 2025), so you can enfranchise from the day you complete your purchase. It also provides for a reformed valuation methodology intended to reduce the cost, but that change is not yet in force and is being implemented on a phased basis over several years. Owning the freehold gives leaseholders control over the building and eliminates ground rent and freeholder management fees.

Leasehold means you own the right to occupy a property for a fixed term set out in a lease, but you do not own the land it stands on — the freeholder does. When the lease expires, ownership of the property reverts to the freeholder unless the lease is extended. Freehold means you own the property and the land outright, with no time limit on ownership. Most flats in England and Wales are leasehold; most houses are freehold, though leasehold houses do exist and have been the subject of significant recent legislation. Leasehold ownership comes with ongoing obligations — service charges, ground rent, and compliance with the lease terms — that freehold ownership does not.

The right to manage (RTM) allows leaseholders in a qualifying block of flats to take over the management of their building from the freeholder — without having to prove any fault on the freeholder's part and without paying any compensation. To exercise RTM, leaseholders must form an RTM company, serve a claim notice on the freeholder, and meet qualifying criteria: at least two thirds of the flats must be long leaseholders, and at least half of all leaseholders in the building must participate. Once the RTM company takes over, it is responsible for managing the building — including service charges, maintenance, and insurance. RTM gives leaseholders direct control over how their building is run and who manages it.

Before buying leasehold, your solicitor will check: the length of the lease remaining — short leases are harder to mortgage and more expensive to extend; the annual service charge and whether it has been increasing; the ground rent and whether it is fixed or escalating; the financial health and competence of the managing agent or residents' management company; any major works planned or recently carried out, and whether there is a reserve fund to cover them; any restrictions in the lease on alterations, subletting, or keeping pets; and for flats in buildings over 11 metres, the building's safety remediation status under the Building Safety Act 2022. Leasehold due diligence is significantly more involved than freehold.