Wondering what the difference is between a leasehold and a freehold? This guide breaks down the ways you can own a property: freehold, leasehold, or leasehold with a share of the freehold. It also examines the costs and responsibilities of each, and how they affect what a property will cost to buy, sell, and maintain.
- What is a freehold?
- Owning a share of freehold
- Commonhold properties
- What is a leasehold?
- Charges for leasehold properties
- Management disputes
What is a freehold?
The freeholder of a property owns it outright, including the land it’s built on.
If you buy a freehold, you’re responsible for maintaining your property and land, so you’ll need to budget for these costs.
Most houses are freehold but some might be leasehold – usually through shared-ownership schemes.
Benefits of having a freehold
You don’t have to:
- Worry about the lease running out, as you own the property outright.
- Deal with the freeholder (often known as the landlord).
- Pay ground rent, services charges or any other landlord charges.
Owning a share of freehold
You can buy the freehold from the landlord along with other leaseholders - for example, other people living in a block of flats.
You can do this as long as at least half of the leaseholders agree to buy a share.
Doing this gives you more control over your home and the costs you pay out.
It also means you can extend your lease fairly easily for up to 999 years.
- Together you will have to serve a Section 13 Notice on the landlord.
- It might be expensive to buy the freehold. You and the other leaseholders will also need to set up a company to manage the building, or find a managing agent to do it for you.
Commonhold properties
Commonhold is a type of freehold ownership.
It’s designed to help flat owners get full ownership of their property, instead of having it on a lease.
Everyone within a building or block of flats comes together to form a company, known as a Commonhold Association.
That company then owns the freehold of the building.
What is a leasehold?
With a leasehold, you own the property and its land for the length of your lease agreement with the freeholder.
When the lease ends, ownership returns to the freeholder, unless you can extend the lease.
Most flats and maisonettes are owned leasehold, apart from in Scotland where there are very few leasehold properties.
Buying a leasehold
When you buy a leasehold property, you’ll take over the lease from the previous owner.
So before making an offer you’ll need to consider:
- How many years are left on the lease.
- How you’ll budget for service charges and related costs.
- How the length of the lease might affect getting a mortgage and the property resale value.
How important is the length of a lease?
If the lease is for less than 70 years, you might struggle to get a mortgage.
Lenders will normally need it to run for 25-30 years beyond the end of your mortgage.
This means if you want to get a 25-year mortgage the lease needs to have at least 50-55 years before it ends.
As a result, it can also be difficult to sell a property if the lease is for less than 80 years.
If you eventually want to sell a leasehold property you’re buying, think about how many years will be left on the lease.
Extending the lease
You can ask the landlord to extend the lease at any time.
And once you’ve owned your home for two years, you have the right to extend your lease by 90 years, provided you are a qualifying tenant.
Usually, you will be a qualifying tenant if your original lease was for more than 21 years.
The freeholder will charge for extending the lease.
The cost will depend on the property.
If you and the freeholder can’t agree on the cost of extending the lease, you can appeal to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.
You might need to hire a solicitor and surveyor, which will increase the cost.
Charges for leasehold properties
Use the Budget planner to check you’ll be able to afford service charges on top of your mortgage payments.
If you own a leasehold property, you don’t own the land.
This means you won’t be responsible for maintaining and running the building.
The landlord will do this or appoint a managing agent to do so for them.
However, the leaseholders share the costs of this by paying a service charge to the landlord.
You might also be asked to pay into a sinking fund, to help cover any unexpected maintenance work needed in the future.
Leasehold service charges
Service charges vary from property to property and are to pay for things such as:
- Maintaining communal gardens,
- Electricity bills for communal areas, or
- Repair and maintenance of exterior walls
Make sure you’re aware of the service charges before you put in an offer on a property as it might affect whether you can afford to live there.
If you own a leasehold property, the repairs and maintenance on your property are your responsibility.
But you’ll usually need to get the landlord’s permission to make any significant changes.
Other charges might include:
- Ground rent;
- Administration charges, or
- Buildings insurance (arranged by the landlord)
Factoring charges in Scotland
In Scotland, services charges are known as ‘factoring charges’.
These usually apply to flats with common parts or to properties in residential areas which have communal gardens or grounds.
Management disputes
Your rights as a leaseholder
As a leaseholder you have rights preventing the landlord from taking advantage of you financially.
For example, you can ask to see:
- A summary of what the service charges are being spent on.
- How they have been calculated.
- Any supporting paperwork, such as receipts for work done.
The landlord must also consult you:
- About any building work costing more than £250.
- Before doing any work lasting more than a year.
- Before doing any work costing you over £100 a year.
What to do if you’re unhappy with the property management
If you’re unhappy with charges or the way the property is managed, you have two options:
1. The Right to Manage - lets leaseholders take over certain management tasks from the landlord without having to prove bad management. You’ll need to qualify, and set up a management company with the other leaseholders.
2. Apply to appoint a new manager - but you must prove bad management (unfair costs, breach of agreements).
This article is provided by the Money Advice Service.
