Glossary
UK flat-buying terms, in plain English.
The words that turn up in a leasehold purchase, defined without the jargon. Where the law is mid-reform, the honest answer is to confirm the current position with your solicitor.
- Leasehold
- Freehold
- Share of freehold
- Commonhold
- Ground rent
- Peppercorn rent
- Service charge
- Sinking fund or reserve fund
- Section 20 notice
- Marriage value
- Lease extension (statutory)
- The 80-year cliff
- EPC
- EWS1
- Cladding and the Building Safety Act
- Cladding remediation
- Stamp Duty (SDLT)
- Conveyancing
- RICS survey or HomeBuyer report
- Demised premises
- Forfeiture
- Service charge apportionment
- Council tax band
- Gazumping
- Estate management charge or rentcharge
- Leasehold
- You own the flat for a fixed number of years set by a lease, but not the building or the land it sits on. The freeholder owns those and you usually pay them ground rent and a service charge. Most UK flats are sold leasehold.Flatscope reads the remaining lease length from the listing and scores it on the Lease axis, flagging short leases.
- Freehold
- You own the property and the land it stands on outright, with no time limit and no landlord above you. Most houses are freehold, while flats rarely are because shared structure needs a single owner responsible for the whole building.
- Commonhold
- A way of owning a flat outright with no lease and no landlord, where owners jointly run the building through a commonhold association. It exists in law but is still rare in practice, and the government has signalled plans to make it more common.
- Ground rent
- A regular charge a leaseholder pays the freeholder simply for holding the lease, separate from the service charge. Ground rent on most new long residential leases granted from mid-2022 onward must be a token amount under the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, but older leases can still carry meaningful or rising ground rents.Where the ground rent figure is in the listing or public records, Flatscope factors it into the Costs axis.
- Peppercorn rent
- A ground rent set so low it is effectively nil, traditionally described as one peppercorn a year and almost never actually collected. It signals you owe no real ground rent, which buyers and lenders generally view as a good thing.
- Service charge
- The yearly amount leaseholders pay towards running and maintaining the shared parts of a building, such as cleaning, lifts, insurance, and repairs. It varies a lot between buildings and can rise sharply, so it is worth checking the recent history before you buy.Flatscope pulls any service charge figure from the listing into the Costs axis and flags when it looks high for the building.
- Sinking fund or reserve fund
- Money that leaseholders pay into over time so the building has savings ready for big future jobs like a new roof or lift. A healthy fund means you are less likely to face a sudden large one-off bill, though it is not a guarantee.
- Section 20 notice
- A formal consultation a landlord must run before charging leaseholders for major works or a long-term agreement, under section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985. Consultation is required where the work would cost any one leaseholder more than £250, or a long-term agreement of over 12 months would cost any one leaseholder more than £100 a year. If the landlord skips it, the amount they can recover may be capped.Flatscope mentions Section 20 risk in the questions to ask when a building looks likely to face major works.
- Marriage value
- The extra value created when a short lease is extended, which the law has historically split between the leaseholder and the freeholder. The established position is that it becomes payable once a lease drops below 80 years remaining, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. This area is being reformed by the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, and not all valuation provisions were in force in early 2026, so confirm the current rule with your solicitor.Flatscope flags leases near or below 80 years on the Lease axis so the marriage value question is on your radar.
- Lease extension (statutory)
- The legal right of a qualifying leaseholder to extend their flat lease, adding years and usually reducing the ground rent towards a token amount. The detail of the rights and how the premium is calculated is governed by the 1993 Act and is currently being reformed, so check the up-to-date position with your solicitor before relying on any figure.
- The 80-year cliff
- The 80-year mark is the point at which marriage value has historically become payable on a statutory lease extension, which is why extending before a lease falls under 80 years has traditionally been much cheaper. This threshold is part of what the 2024 reforms address, so its current effect should be confirmed with a solicitor rather than assumed.If a listing's lease is close to 80 years, Flatscope highlights it as a time-sensitive thing to ask about.
- EPC
- An Energy Performance Certificate rates how energy efficient a property is from band A, the best, down to band G, the worst. One is legally required to market a property for sale, and a certificate is valid for 10 years.Flatscope looks up the property on the gov.uk EPC register and scores the result on the Energy axis.
- EWS1
- An External Wall System form used to record a building's external wall fire safety so lenders can decide whether to lend, mainly relevant to taller blocks. It is not a survey of the whole building, and whether one is needed depends on the building, so your solicitor and lender will confirm what applies.
- Cladding and the Building Safety Act
- Cladding is the outer covering on a building's walls, which became a major safety and lending issue after the Grenfell fire. The Building Safety Act 2022 set up new rules and protections around building safety, especially for higher-rise residential blocks, and it can affect costs, mortgageability, and remediation responsibility.For relevant buildings Flatscope checks the Building Safety Fund register and surfaces it as a question to raise.
- Cladding remediation
- The work of removing or fixing unsafe external wall materials so a building meets current safety standards. It matters to buyers because it can affect who pays, how long the building takes to become mortgageable, and whether protections under the Building Safety Act 2022 apply, all of which your solicitor should confirm.
- Stamp Duty (SDLT)
- Stamp Duty Land Tax is a tax you pay to the government when you buy property over a certain price in England and Northern Ireland. The amount depends on the price, whether you are a first-time buyer, and whether you own other property, and the thresholds change often, so treat any estimate as indicative. In Wales the equivalent is Land Transaction Tax.Flatscope calculates the Stamp Duty due from the listing price so the figure is in front of you. Confirm it with your solicitor.
- Conveyancing
- The legal process of transferring property ownership from seller to buyer, handled by a solicitor or licensed conveyancer. It covers searches, checking the lease and title, raising enquiries, and completing the purchase. Flatscope does not replace this, so you still need a conveyancer.
- RICS survey or HomeBuyer report
- An inspection of a property's condition carried out by a surveyor registered with the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors. The HomeBuyer report is a mid-level option that flags visible problems, while more detailed building surveys exist for older or unusual properties. This is separate from any Flatscope report, and you should still commission one.
- Demised premises
- The exact parts of a building your lease gives you, which for a flat usually means the internal space rather than the structure or shared areas. Knowing precisely what is demised matters because it sets who is responsible for repairs, so check it in the lease with your solicitor.
- Forfeiture
- A landlord's legal route to end a lease and take back the property if the leaseholder seriously breaches its terms, such as long-unpaid charges. There are strict procedures and protections, and courts can grant relief, so it is rare in practice, but it is one reason to keep up with lease obligations.
- Service charge apportionment
- How the total service charge for a building is divided between the individual flats, often by a fixed percentage set in each lease. Knowing your apportionment tells you what share of any future bill you would carry, which can differ from an equal split.
- Council tax band
- A band from A to H in England, set by the Valuation Office, that determines how much council tax you pay on a property. The band is based on an estimated 1991 value, so it does not always track today's price, and the actual bill depends on your local council's rates.Flatscope looks up the property's council tax band from public records and includes it in the running cost picture.
- Gazumping
- When a seller accepts a higher offer from another buyer after already agreeing a sale with you, before contracts are exchanged. It is legal in England and Wales because the deal is not binding until exchange, which is one reason buyers try to move quickly through the legal stage.
- Estate management charge or rentcharge
- A charge some homeowners pay, including freeholders, towards maintaining shared estate areas such as roads, green spaces, or play areas, often on newer developments. A rentcharge is a related historic charge on freehold land. Both can carry their own rules and enforcement, so check what applies in the title with your solicitor.
See these terms checked against a real listing. Your first report is free.