How to compare two flats before you make an offer

Two flats at the same asking price can be wildly different purchases. One might have a long lease, a low service charge and a decent layout. The other might have sixty-odd years left, a bill that climbs every year and a bedroom you can barely get a double bed into.

So don't compare asking prices. Compare what you actually get for the money, and what it costs you to hold it. Five figures do most of that work. Write them in a simple table, one column per flat, and the better buy often jumps out.

This is the quickest way to level the playing field. Take the asking price and divide it by the floor area in square metres. The floor area usually comes from the EPC, which you can look up free on gov.uk, or from the agent's floorplan.

Treat it as a guide, not gospel. Floor areas on listings can be rough, and a flat with a wasted hallway isn't the same as one where every metre earns its keep. But if one flat is noticeably dearer per square metre and has nothing to justify it, like a better view, outside space or a longer lease, that's your first negotiating point.

Compare like with like too. A top floor flat with a lift and a ground floor flat on a busy road won't share a sensible price per square metre, even in the same street.

Lease length is the figure that can quietly cost you thousands. A short lease gets harder to mortgage and more expensive to extend, and that cost lands on you as the owner.

Lenders commonly want around seventy to eighty-five years left when you apply, and thirty to forty years left when the mortgage ends. Each lender sets its own figure, so ask yours early. Once a lease drops under eighty years, marriage value comes into play when you extend. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 abolishes it, but that part isn't in force and has no start date, so assume it still applies and check with a solicitor.

One piece of good news. The old rule that you had to own a flat for two years before claiming a statutory lease extension was abolished from 31 January 2025. Even so, a flat with a shorter lease should be priced lower to reflect the extension you'll face. If it isn't, walk away or push hard.

Service charge pays for the building, things like insurance, cleaning, lighting and repairs. Ask for the last few years of accounts, not just this year's figure. A low number can hide a building that's been neglected, with a big bill waiting around the corner. Ask whether major works are planned and whether there's a reserve fund.

Ground rent is a separate payment to the freeholder. New long residential leases granted from 30 June 2022 carry a peppercorn ground rent, which means effectively nothing. Older leases can be different, so read the terms. Look for how much it is, and whether it rises and when. A ground rent that doubles at set intervals can make a flat harder to sell later.

Add the yearly service charge and ground rent together and treat the total as part of what the flat costs you to live in. A cheaper flat with heavy charges can easily be the dearer home over a few years.

This is where you test whether the asking price is sensible. Look at what flats in the same building have actually sold for, and compare it with the asking price. Gov.uk's price paid data and the big property portals both show past sales.

The Land Registry's free property search only tells you whether a property is freehold or leasehold and gives you its title number. For more, a title register, title plan or a copy of the filed lease costs seven pounds each to download on gov.uk. That's cheap for what you learn, and the lease copy is well worth reading before you spend on a solicitor.

Sold prices in the building beat anything from down the road. Same block, same lease terms, same charges. If a similar flat went for less recently, you've got evidence for your offer. Allow for differences in floor, condition and lease length, because they move prices too.

Make your table. For each flat, list the asking price, floor area, price per square metre, years left on the lease, annual service charge, ground rent and the last sold prices in the building. Then add a line for anything the numbers can't show, like noise, light and how the flat feels.

The winner isn't always the cheapest. It's the one where the numbers and your gut agree. If they don't, trust the numbers first, then the gut.

Before you offer, get your solicitor to check the lease and the service charge accounts. Anything that depends on the law, such as lease extension rights or the status of the 2024 reforms, can change, so confirm it with them rather than relying on this article alone.