Leasehold and shared ownership
Leasehold sale
Selling a leasehold flat or house, including the management pack, the landlord's requirements and settling service charges.
Every cost on its own line: the law firm's legal fee, VAT, the searches and other third-party costs, and any property tax. Your quote opens as soon as you send the form.
Selling a leasehold property means answering questions about the lease and the building as well as the home itself. Your buyer's conveyancer will want to know what the service charges are, whether any big bills are on the way, how much time is left on the lease and whether the landlord needs to approve anything. Much of that information comes from the landlord or managing agent rather than from you.
This service is for selling an existing leasehold flat or house that you own outright or with a mortgage. If you own a share under a shared ownership scheme, see shared ownership sale instead.
Your instant quote shows the legal fee with the leasehold admin fee and the third-party costs, including the landlord's or managing agent's fees, which are confirmed once known. If you go ahead, Keyfolio introduces you to a regulated law firm that can order the management pack early to keep your sale moving.
What is involved
Your conveyancer prepares the leasehold side of the sale alongside the usual steps:
- Gathering the paperwork: your lease, your title and the leasehold information form, which asks about service charges, ground rent, notices and any disputes.
- Ordering the management pack: requesting the standard leasehold enquiries and supporting documents from the landlord or managing agent, which usually involves a fee.
- Building safety information: for some taller blocks, supplying the certificates and information buyers now ask for about historical safety defects.
- Answering enquiries: replying to the buyer's questions, often with help from the managing agent on matters such as insurance claims or planned works.
- Landlord's consent: if the lease requires consent to the sale, or a direct promise from the new owner to the landlord, arranging it before completion.
- Apportionments: working out how much service charge and ground rent you owe, or are owed back, up to the completion date.
- Completion: receiving the money, repaying your mortgage, settling any arrears and sending you the balance.
If your lease is getting short, ask your conveyancer whether to deal with it before marketing, because a short lease can affect both the price and your buyer's mortgage.
What the legal fee covers
- Obtaining your title and reviewing the lease
- Ordering the management pack from the landlord or managing agent
- Helping you complete the leasehold information form
- Answering the buyer's enquiries about the lease and the building
- Dealing with any landlord consent the sale requires
- Working out service charge and ground rent apportionments
- Exchanging contracts and completing the sale
- Sending you a completion statement and the proceeds
Costs you may see on top
- The leasehold admin fee
- The management pack fee charged by the landlord or managing agent
- Further landlord fees for consents, building safety certificates or extra questions
- Official copies of the title and lease from HM Land Registry
- A fee for repaying your mortgage on completion
- Any service charge or ground rent arrears, settled from the sale money
- Identity checks for each seller and the bank charge for sending money
What to have ready
- Your copy of the lease, if you have one
- Contact details for the landlord, managing agent or management company
- Your latest service charge and ground rent demands and receipts
- Any letters about planned major works or consultation on them
- The landlord's consent for alterations you have made, such as moving the kitchen or laying new flooring
- Buildings insurance details if you insure the property yourself
- Photo identification and proof of address for each seller
How long it takes
A leasehold sale commonly takes 12 to 20 weeks from instruction to completion. The wait for the management pack is often the longest single step, and ordering it as soon as your property goes on the market, rather than once a buyer is found, can save weeks. Delays also come from a landlord who is slow to give consent, questions about building safety, unclear service charge accounts or a short lease that the buyer's lender will not accept.
Things to watch for
- Order the management pack early. It can take weeks to arrive and it is usually the first thing a buyer's conveyancer asks for.
- Check you have the landlord's written consent for past alterations if the lease requires it. Missing consents can hold up the sale or lead to a request for retrospective consent and a fee.
- If you have paid service charges in advance you may be owed a refund on completion, and any outstanding bills will be taken from your sale money.
- A short lease can put buyers and lenders off. If you are close to 80 years remaining, ask whether starting a lease extension before you sell makes sense.
- If a demand for major works arrives while your sale is going through, tell your conveyancer straight away, because it will affect who pays.
Questions people ask
Who pays for the management pack?
The seller usually orders and pays for it, because the buyer needs the information to decide whether to go ahead. The fee is set by the landlord or managing agent and varies widely between buildings. Your conveyancer will tell you the amount once it is known, and it is normally paid before the pack is released.
Can I sell while a lease extension is in progress?
Yes. If you have served a formal notice to extend under the statutory route, the benefit of the claim can be passed to your buyer along with the lease, so they can finish the extension after completion. The two must go together, otherwise the claim is treated as withdrawn. Your conveyancer will put the right wording in the contract and transfer.
What are apportionments?
They are adjustments for payments that cover a period either side of completion. If you paid the service charge for the six months to the end of June and complete on 31 March, you have paid for three months when you will no longer own the flat, so the buyer refunds that part. The same applies to ground rent, and it works the other way if you owe money. Your completion statement shows the figures.
Do I need to tell the landlord I am selling?
Many leases do not require advance notice, but the managing agent will need to know because they supply the management pack. Some leases need the landlord's consent to a sale or require the buyer to sign a deed of covenant. After completion, the buyer's conveyancer gives the landlord notice so the new owner is recorded.
Who does the work
Your matter is handled by a law firm regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers or CILEx Regulation, or in Northern Ireland by a solicitor regulated by the Law Society of Northern Ireland. At the moment the law firms on our panel act for property in England and Wales, so for property in Northern Ireland we tell you whether a firm can act for you before we pass your details to anyone. The firm confirms who will work on your file, their experience and its terms before you instruct it. How we choose our firms.
Helpful guides
The other costs of your move
- Moving costs calculator: the other costs of the move, from the survey to removals