The freehold of your house
A long leaseholder of a house can usually buy the freehold under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967. The two-year ownership requirement that used to apply was removed by the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.
Leasehold enfranchisement
Own the ground beneath your home.
If you hold a long lease on a flat or a house, the law may give you the right to buy the freehold — and you do not need your landlord's agreement to do it. We are solicitors, we do this work for a fixed fee, and you follow every step in one online case file.
- One fixed fee for our work, agreed before you commit
- Identity checks, payment and progress all in one place
- A case per property, each with its own reference
England and Wales only. Nothing on this page is legal advice.
Our fee for a freehold purchase
£1,495 fixed, per property
Freehold purchase — fixed fee. VAT and third-party costs are charged separately and explained in full before you commit.
- Checking whether you qualify, before anything is spent
- Serving the statutory notice and handling the response
- Transfer, completion and registration at HM Land Registry
A regulated firm
Authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Our SRA
number is at the foot of every page.
A price before you commit
The fee is shown up front and confirmed in your engagement letter. If the
work changes materially, we agree a new figure with you in writing first.
Everything in one case file
Instruct online, complete your identity checks, pay securely through
Stripe and follow the case from the same account.
What we handle
Three routes to a freehold, one way of working
Which statutory right applies depends on what you own and who else is involved. We will tell you which one fits your situation — and if none of them does, we will tell you that too, before you have spent anything.
Your block of flats, together
Leaseholders in a block can club together and buy the freehold collectively under the 1993 Act. Broadly, at least half the flats must take part, and at least two-thirds of the flats must be held on long leases.
More than one property
Landlords and investors buy freeholds too. Each property is its own case, with its own case number and its own fee, so nothing gets tangled together — and they all sit in one account.
How it works
Four steps to get started
The statutory process has more stages than this — there are seven, and they are set out in full on the next page — but this is everything you have to do.
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Tell us about the property
Send us the address and what you know about the lease. We will tell you which statutory right applies and whether you qualify.
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Instruct us and pay the fixed fee
You open a case for the property, accept the engagement letter and pay £1,495 through Stripe's own secure checkout. We never see your card.
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Confirm who you are
Anti-money-laundering rules require us to verify your identity before we can act. It is done online from the case file, usually in minutes.
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We get on with it
Valuation, notice, negotiation, transfer and registration. You follow progress in your account and we come to you when we need a decision.
Fees
One fee for our work. Everything else, itemised.
The uncomfortable truth about enfranchisement is that our fee is not the only cost — and a firm that only quotes its own fee is not telling you the whole picture. Here is both halves.
Our fixed fee
£1,495 Per property, payable when you instruct us. Where VAT applies it is charged at the prevailing rate and shown separately.What you should budget for alongside it
These are disbursements — money paid to other people, not to us. We estimate them at the outset and tell you before anything significant is incurred.
- The price of the freehold itself — set by valuation or, if it comes to it, by the First-tier Tribunal.
- A surveyor's valuation — the evidence your offer and any negotiation rests on.
- The freeholder's reasonable costs — in a statutory claim you may be liable for these as well as your own.
- Land Registry fees, office copies and any tribunal fees — fixed, published amounts.
Questions
The three we are asked first
Do I need my freeholder to agree?
Not if you are using a statutory right. That is the point of it: if you qualify, the freeholder has to sell, and the argument is about price rather than whether it happens at all. A price you cannot agree is settled by the First-tier Tribunal.
How long does it take?
A straightforward case where the freeholder engages sensibly often runs to somewhere between six and twelve months. The statutory timetable sets the floor; a missing or unresponsive freeholder, or a tribunal reference, adds to it. We would rather say that now than promise you a date we cannot hold.
What will the freehold cost me?
Nobody can tell you from the address alone. The price turns on the ground rent, how many years are left on the lease and the value of the property, and it is a surveyor's valuation that puts a number on it. What we can tell you at the outset is which valuation basis applies to your case and what drives it up or down.
Find out where you stand.
Tell us the address and what you know about the lease. We will come back to you with which right applies, whether you qualify and what the process looks like from here — before you have spent anything.
Already with us? Sign in to your case file.