Buying the freehold with other flat owners, how it works

If you own a flat on a long lease, someone else almost certainly owns the building's freehold. That someone is your landlord, and they set the rules on ground rent, service charges and consent for changes.

Buying the freehold together is called collective enfranchisement. Enough flat owners form a group, usually a company, and buy the freehold from the landlord, even if the landlord would rather not sell. Once the deal completes, you and your neighbours effectively become your own landlord.

It's not the same as a share of freehold bought on the open market, though you can end up in a similar place. Collective enfranchisement is a legal right. A voluntary purchase is just a negotiation. Both are worth understanding if you're eyeing a flat in a building where the neighbours seem organised.

The right applies to a building, not just to you. Broadly, the building needs to contain at least two flats, and a set proportion of those flats must be held by qualifying tenants on long leases. There are also limits on how much of the building can be non-residential, and some building types can fall outside the right altogether.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 loosened some of these tests, but the detail depends on which changes are actually in force. I'd treat any specific threshold you read online, including this guide, as something to confirm with a leasehold solicitor before you spend money on it.

One point that has changed for good. The old rule that you had to own your flat for two years before claiming was abolished from 31 January 2025. That matters if you've only just bought.

There are two numbers to keep in mind, and people often mix them up.

First, a minimum share of the qualifying tenants must take part in the claim. The long-standing test has been at least half of the qualifying flats. Second, the participating group has to be a sensible, organised one, usually a company set up to hold the freehold, with named members.

In practice, more is better. Every owner who joins shares the bill, so a bigger group means a smaller slice each. Owners who stay out aren't forced to join, and they can often join later, though usually at a less friendly moment. The exact participation thresholds depend on current law, so ask a solicitor to check them against your building before you start.

I can't give you a single figure, because there isn't one. Every building is priced differently. What I can do is tell you what you'll be paying for.

1. The price of the freehold itself, based on a valuation that reflects the ground rents, how long the leases have left and the landlord's other interests.

2. Marriage value, where it applies. The 2024 Act abolishes it, but that part is not in force and has no start date, so it still applies when leases have fewer than 80 years left.

3. Your own legal and valuation fees.

4. Often the landlord's reasonable costs too, which surprises many groups.

Short leases push the price up, so a building full of flats with fewer than 80 years left will cost more than one where leases are long. Costs are usually split between participants, sometimes evenly and sometimes by flat value. Agree the split in writing early, because that's where friendships go to die.

It looks daunting, but the stages are fairly logical.

1. Talk to your neighbours and gauge real interest.

2. Instruct a specialist leasehold solicitor and a valuer.

3. Set up the company that will buy the freehold.

4. Serve a formal notice on the landlord, setting out what you offer.

5. The landlord replies with a counter notice. Then there's negotiation, and if you can't agree, a tribunal can decide the price.

6. Complete the purchase and register the new ownership.

Expect it to take months, not weeks. If you can read your own lease and title documents first, you'll save time. HM Land Registry charges 7 pounds to download a title register, title plan or filed lease from gov.uk, which is cheap for what you learn.

Day to day, you gain control. You can decide who manages the building, how money is spent and whether to extend leases cheaply among yourselves. Ground rent payable to the old landlord stops, and you aren't dealing with a distant owner who ignores repairs.

But you also take on responsibility. The company has legal duties around insurance, safety, repairs and accounts. If the roof fails, the bill is yours, shared among owners. Someone has to chair, keep records and chase unpaid charges. Many buildings hire a managing agent to cope, which costs money but saves arguments.

For future buyers and lenders, a well-run owner-controlled building can be a selling point. Lenders commonly want around 70 to 85 years left on a lease when you apply and 30 to 40 years left when the mortgage ends, and each lender sets its own figure. Owning the freehold makes it easier to lengthen leases, which keeps flats mortgageable.

If you're buying a flat, ask the seller or agent whether the freehold has been bought, or whether neighbours are already talking about it. A building mid-claim has a story worth hearing. So does one where the freeholder is hard to reach.

My honest view is that it's brilliant when owners get along and share the effort, and miserable when one or two people do all the work. Be realistic about your neighbours. Before committing, get a solicitor to confirm the current rules, because leasehold law is still moving and what applies today may change.