A Conveyancer’s Guide to Selling a Leasehold Property

A Guide to Selling a Leasehold Property

Thinking of selling your leasehold property? In this blog post, our conveyancing solicitors explain how the leasehold conveyancing process works, what to look out for and how to keep your transaction moving as quickly as possible.

Leasehold Reforms

The introduction of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (LAFRA) is set to bring significant changes for leaseholders and property owners across England and Wales. The Act increases the statutory lease extension term from 90 years to 990 years, abolishes marriage value, and ensures that all extended leases carry only a peppercorn (£0) ground rent. In addition, the Government has proposed introducing a £250 per annum cap on ground rent for existing leases. This cap is intended to protect leaseholders who still pay ground rent under historic leases that predate the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022. The proposal has not yet come into force, but once implemented, it will apply only to existing leases that continue to attract ground rent, ensuring no leaseholder pays more than £250 annually. New or extended leases will continue to be restricted to a peppercorn (£0) ground rent. Once the Act comes into force, it is expected to impact the overall cost of extending a lease, potentially making the process more affordable for many leaseholders.

Is selling a leasehold property complicated?

Selling your leasehold property is perhaps slightly more complicated than selling a freehold, but it generally seems more difficult than it actually is. The central differences are that there are different factors you will need to consider and you will likely need different documents. These factors may include:

• The length of your lease – this can affect the value and marketability of your property. You may consider extending your lease before putting your property on the market; more on this below.
• The terms of your lease – if there are terms in the lease which make the property undesirable to many buyers, you could ask for a deed of variation of lease (or, where substantial changes are needed, a replacement lease by deed of surrender and regrant), subject to lender consent.
• Whether your property is share of freehold or not – there will be much more for a prospective buyer to consider before making a decision. Expect additional steps (for example, share certificate transfer/freehold company approval) and ensure the lease for your flat remains clear and lender‑compliant.

If you need to extend your lease, a good place to start is our lease extension calculator.

What are mortgage lender requirements for leasehold properties?

In order to avoid putting off buyers, you will need to consider how the terms of your leasehold property may affect whether or not it is mortgageable. Every lender will have different requirements, and criteria change over time. Typical risk points include:

• A short unexpired term (many lenders require more than 80 years at completion and/or a minimum term that exceeds the mortgage term by a set margin).
• The lease contains onerous ground rent terms (for example, frequent doubling or aggressive indexation, or rent‑to‑value ratios lenders consider unacceptable). For most new “regulated” long leases post‑30 June 2022, ground rent should be peppercorn.
• Unclear or unworkable service‑charge/insurance provisions, or defective covenants/rights that impede management or enforcement.

You can find more information in our blog: Obtaining a mortgage on leasehold property

Can I alter the terms of my lease?

If your lease is having a negative impact on the marketability of your lease, you can ask your freeholder to agree to a deed of variation of lease. With a deed of variation of lease, you and your freeholder can make agreed-upon changes to your lease. This allows for changes to the lease to be made without the need for the creation of an entirely new lease, although substantial changes (for example, altering the demise or adding years) may operate in law as a surrender and regrant, producing a replacement lease and additional formalities. There is no general right to compel variations (save for limited statutory routes for defective leases), so agreement and lender consent are key.

What other documents do I need to sell a leasehold property?

The documents you will likely need to sell your leasehold property include:

• A Copy of your lease: If you don’t have the original copy of the lease, our solicitors can download a copy of the lease from the land registry for you.
• A LPE1 form: The LPE1 form is a legal document completed by the freeholder or their managing company which contains information on the lease, such as ground rent, service charges, maintenance information, buildings insurance and who the buyer should serve notice to once the property has been sold. You will need to obtain this from your freeholder or their managing company and should request it as soon as possible – managing companies are notorious for taking a long time to respond. (In some cases, LPE2/FME1 and fire‑safety information will also be requested.)
• The Fixtures and Fittings Form: This sets out which fixtures and fittings will be sold along with the property, such as kitchen appliances.
• The Leasehold Information Form (Form TA7):This form will include general information about the property, such as whether it’s a flat or a house, who it is managed by and who the freeholder is, for example. It will generally contain some of the same information that will be given in the LPE1 form.
• Consent forms or compliance certificates: If you’ve made any improvements to your property that you needed your landlord’s consent for, make sure to include any compliance certificates stating the changes that were made and proving that you had your landlord’s consent to make those changes.
• Shared Freehold Documentation (if applicable): You will need to provide documentation on the manner in which it has been shared, such as the Share Certificate. If a deed of covenant, certificate of compliance, or licence to assign is required by the lease, landlord/agent’s fees and processing time are also points that need to be factored in.

Should I extend my lease before I sell?

You may be thinking that the length of your lease doesn’t matter, seeing as you’re planning on selling your leasehold anyway. However, because mortgage lenders are often unwilling to lend on properties with short leases requirements vary, but many expect more than 80 years at completion), it may be worth the expense to extend your lease before you sell. Besides, a lease extension increases your property’s value, so it might be worth the investment if you don’t have many years remaining on your lease.

You could even ask your landlord for an informal lease extension for a chance of having your lease extended for cheap. Although, you should be wary of accepting an informal lease extension with onerous ground rent terms; mortgage lenders will often not lend on properties with quickly-escalating ground rent rates, which would mean you could end up stuck in the property you wanted to sell and paying ridiculous ground rent.

Since removal of the historic two‑year ownership requirement, a buyer can start a statutory lease extension claim immediately after purchase (in practice, on the day of completion), rather than waiting two years. In transactions involving a short lease, the agreed sale price will usually need to reflect the buyer’s likely total costs and risks—typically the statutory premium (including marriage value if the term is 80 years or less at the valuation date), the buyer’s and landlord’s “reasonable” legal and valuation fees, and any lender‑driven timing requirements.

At Starck Uberoi, we can structure the deal to protect both timetable and value: advising on price negotiations and premium assumptions with input from enfranchisement valuers, drafting special conditions (for service/assignment of notices, retentions and cost allocations), identifying the competent landlord and ensuring a valid notice is served at the right time, coordinating lender requirements, and managing post‑completion steps so the claim proceeds smoothly.

What is the conveyancing process when selling your leasehold property?

Generally speaking, the procedure is as follows:

1. Once you accept an offer, you instruct a conveyancing solicitor who will draw up a draft contract for the buyer. This will be sent to the buyer’s solicitor (along with the other aforementioned documents) for them to inspect and they will raise any enquiries necessary until the buyer is happy to proceed with the purchase. For leaseholds, your solicitor will also obtain the LPE1 and check any consents/licences required by the lease (licence to assign, deed of covenant, certificate of compliance).
2. If you have a mortgage on the property, this is when you will need to pay off your mortgage. Your lender will give you a “redemption figure,” which states how much you will need to pay back when the property is sold. If there is a second charge or restriction (for example, rentcharge/estate charge), additional consents may be needed.
3. Once the buyer’s solicitor has finished checking over the draft contract and making enquiries, they will exchange contracts with your solicitor. At this point, the sale is legally binding.
4. After contracts have been exchanged, the buyer will pay their deposit to you. This is a good point at which to start making sure that everything listed on the inventory is as it should be and to make arrangements for your move.
5. Completion day arrives and you hand over the keys to the buyer. The buyer’s solicitor will send the purchase money to your solicitor, who will then use these funds to pay off the mortgage (if applicable) and give the buyer the legal documents which prove their ownership. Post‑completion, the buyer’s solicitor will serve the required landlord/managing‑agent notices (for example, notice of transfer/charge) and arrange share transfer (if share of freehold).

How much does selling your leasehold property cost?

You can receive a full breakdown of our conveyancing fees, including any disbursements that may be payable, in a matter of minutes using our online conveyancing quote calculator. If you sell your property through an estate agent, they will charge a rate usually dependent on the property’s price. For leaseholds, budget for landlord/managing‑agent fees (LPE1 pack, licence to assign where applicable, deed of covenant, certificate of compliance, notice of transfer/charge). We will obtain a schedule of anticipated fees at the outset.

How long does selling your leasehold property take?

If there aren’t any delays, selling your leasehold property could take around 8 to 10 weeks; unfortunately, delays are all too common in conveyancing matters and you should expect the process to take slightly longer. In order to keep the process moving swiftly, it is important that you make sure you have collected all of the necessary documents before you start and that all relevant paperwork is completed promptly and correctly.

This second part applies not only to you, but to your conveyancing solicitor – this is why it is so important to choose a conveyancer who provides frequent communication and can be relied on to complete paperwork on time.

Our solicitors mitigate the risk of delays in a number of ways. We operate primarily over telephone and email instead of relying on the post and face-to-face appointments, plus we utilise technology to allow you to complete much of the process remotely, such as our online passport verification service. We also order the LPE1 immediately on instruction, triage fire‑safety documentation where relevant, and pre‑empt common lender enquiries (term length, ground rent clauses, service‑charge/insurance machinery).

How Starck Uberoi can help

We at Starck Uberoi Solicitors can make selling your leasehold property as stress-free as possible, by providing real-time updates and easy communication through the Starck Uberoi App. Our experienced solicitors hold Law Society Accreditation under the Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS) and are well-renowned for providing an efficient and effective service, even in the most complicated circumstances. To book an appointment with our leasehold conveyancing team, please call 020 8840 6640 or email solicitor@starckuberoi.co.uk.

Our Offices

Our Brentford Solicitors, are located on the High Street in a grand three-story building, just a short distance from Brentford County Court. Our Belgravia solicitors are located Just a 5-minute walk from Victoria tube station in Grosvenor Gardens. Our Ealing solicitors are only a short walk from both Ealing Broadway and South Ealing and our Richmond Solicitors have the pleasure of overlooking the picturesque Richmond Green. Finally, our Solicitors in Canterbury are located in the within the UNESCO World Heritage Site of Canterbury Cathedral. Our partner, Raminder Uberoi, can also offer a Notary Public Service at any of our London offices.