Leasehold Conveyancing Checklist

Buying a leasehold property is not like buying a freehold. You are entering a legal relationship with a freeholder and management company that will shape your finances and your experience of the property for years. This checklist covers what to review, what the red flags look like, and what questions to ask before you commit.

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Key Takeaways 

• The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 abolished ground rent for new leases, but existing leases with doubling or escalating ground rent clauses remain legally valid and can seriously affect value and mortgageability.
• Leases under 80 years trigger marriage value, making extensions significantly more expensive, and most mortgage lenders require at least 70–85 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term.
• The Building Safety Act 2022 has introduced new obligations for buildings over 11 metres, relevant to any flat purchase and increasingly scrutinised by lenders.
• The LPE1 (Leasehold Property Enquiries) pack is the central document in any leasehold transaction. Delays in receiving it from the managing agent are the single most common cause of extended timelines.
• Service charges are not fixed; they can rise significantly following major works, and a sinking fund shortfall means you may be asked to contribute a large lump sum at short notice.
• Under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, qualifying leaseholders have a statutory right to extend their lease by 90 years at a peppercorn ground rent.

What makes leasehold conveyancing different?

When you buy a leasehold property, you are not buying the land or building outright; you are purchasing the right to occupy it for a fixed period under the terms of a lease. That lease is a contract with a freeholder, and its terms govern almost every aspect of how you can use the property, what it will cost to own, and how easily you will be able to sell or remortgage it in the future.

This is why leasehold conveyancing involves significantly more investigation than a freehold purchase. Your conveyancer must review not just the property but the legal structure surrounding it, the lease itself, the management of the building, the financial health of the service charge account, and any obligations or restrictions that transfer with ownership.

• 4.9m — Leasehold dwellings in England (DLUHC, 2023) 
• 80 yrs — Threshold below which marriage value applies, increasing extension cost 
• 90 yrs — Statutory lease extension available to qualifying leaseholders under the 1993
• Act 8–16 wks — Typical leasehold conveyancing timeline, longer where managing agents are slow

The full leasehold conveyancing checklist

Buying or selling a leasehold property involves several important checks and documents. Here is a checklist that breaks down everything you need to know, so you’re prepared for the conveyancing process. 

1. Lease length and extension costs

Assess extension costs if the lease is short, and below 80 years, the marriage value applies under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, adding significantly to extension premiums. 

For leases under 70 years, most lenders will not lend at all. Note that the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 is expected to abolish marriage value once fully implemented, which would significantly reduce extension costs for leases approaching 80 years, but this provision is not yet in force.  If your lease is near the 80-year threshold, take legal advice on timing before proceeding, as the cost difference between extending now and waiting for implementation could be substantial in either direction.

2. Ground rent

• Check the current ground rent amount and review the clauses

The Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 abolished ground rent for new leases, but existing leases with doubling clauses remain valid. A lease where ground rent doubles every 10–25 years can become unaffordable and unmortgageable.

• Check whether ground rent exceeds £250 per year (£1,000 in London)

Leases where ground rent exceeds these thresholds are treated as assured tenancies, exposing leaseholders to forfeiture proceedings, a serious legal risk that most lenders will not accept.

Note on future ground rent reform. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 is expected to give existing leaseholders the right to reduce ground rent to a peppercorn on their current leases, not just on new leases granted after June 2022. This provision is not yet in force, but it is directly relevant to any buyer taking on a lease with a problematic ground rent structure. It does not remove the risk now,  lenders assess ground rent terms as they stand today, not as they may stand in the future, but it is worth understanding as part of the longer-term picture when negotiating price on a lease with a doubling clause.

Doubling ground rent clauses are one of the most common issues we see at Muve that cause lenders to decline or withdraw mortgage offers. If a lease contains a ground rent review clause, your conveyancer must calculate the projected ground rent over the full mortgage term, not just the current amount, before your lender sees the documentation.

3. Service charges and sinking fund

• Review at least three years of historic service charge accounts

Look for trends, steadily rising charges, large one-off levies, or years where the budget was significantly exceeded, and these are all worth interrogating.

• Check the sinking fund balance.

A sinking fund (also called a reserve fund) is money set aside for future major works. A low or empty fund in an older building is a red flag, indicating that a large special levy may be forthcoming.

• Ask about planned major works.

If a Section 20 notice has been issued or major works are planned, you need to understand the estimated cost and your share. This can run to tens of thousands of pounds on larger buildings.

• Check for any service charge arrears on the property

Arrears can transfer with the property in some circumstances. Your conveyancer should confirm this is clear before exchange.

Transparency obligations under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024

The 2024 Act introduces stronger transparency requirements over service charges, insurance commissions, and administration fees, areas where abuse has historically been difficult for leaseholders to challenge. Once fully implemented, managing agents will be required to provide more detailed breakdowns of costs and disclose commissions earned on building insurance, which has been a known source of inflated charges.

4. Building safety and the Building Safety Act 2022

• Confirm whether the building is over 11 metres or five storeys

Buildings above this threshold are classified as higher-risk under the Building Safety Act 2022 and are subject to additional requirements, including registration with the Building Safety Regulator.

• Check for EWS1 form or equivalent fire safety documentation

Many lenders require an EWS1 (External Wall System) assessment for flats in buildings with combustible cladding. Without it, mortgage offers can be withdrawn or refused.

• Ask whether any building safety remediation costs are outstanding

Under the Building Safety Act 2022, qualifying leaseholders are protected from certain remediation costs, but this protection is not universal and depends on when the lease was granted and the nature of the defect.

5. Management company and building management

• Review the LPE1 pack in full

The Leasehold Property Enquiries form is the central document for any leasehold transaction. It covers service charges, insurance, major works, disputes, and compliance. Incomplete or evasive answers are a warning sign.

• Check for ongoing disputes between the management company and leaseholders

Active disputes can indicate systemic management problems and may affect your ability to sell in the future.

• Assess the building’s maintenance history.

A poorly maintained building costs more to run and is harder to sell. Ask your conveyancer to flag any gaps in the maintenance record or evidence of deferred works.

The quality of a managing agent makes an enormous practical difference to the leasehold experience, and to how smoothly a transaction runs. We regularly see LPE1 packs arrive four to six weeks after the initial request, with information missing or inconsistent with the lease. If you are buying in a building managed by a large national agent, factor potential delays into your timeline from the outset.

6. Lease restrictions

• Check subletting and short-let restrictions.

Many leases prohibit Airbnb-style lettings or require freeholder consent for any subletting. If you plan to let the property, confirm what the lease allows before the exchange.

• Check alteration restrictions

Most leases require landlord consent for internal alterations. Major works, removing walls, changing floor finishes in upper-floor flats, may require a Licence to Alter, which takes time and costs money.

• Check pet and usage restrictions.

These are legally binding. A restriction that prevents pets or working from home in a way that conflicts with your plans is not something you can ignore; it is something you need to know before you buy.

7. Lease extension rights

• Confirm statutory eligibility for lease extension. 

Qualifying leaseholders can extend by 90 years at a peppercorn ground rent under the 1993 Act. The 2024 Act is expected to increase this to 990 years, though this is not yet in force.

• Note the abolition of the two-year ownership requirement. 

As of 31 January 2025, buyers can initiate a statutory lease extension immediately on completion. This is a significant change that affects how short-lease purchases should be approached and priced.

• Consider whether to extend before or after purchase. 

If the vendor has served a Section 42 notice, this can be assigned to you on completion, locking in the lease length and ground rent terms at the point the notice was served. Ask your conveyancer whether an assignment is appropriate in your case.

When to walk away

Not every leasehold issue is resolvable. There are situations where the right decision is to renegotiate the price significantly or withdraw from the purchase entirely.

Typical timeline and what causes delays

The single biggest variable is how quickly the managing agent returns the LPE1 pack. Some agents respond within days; others take six weeks or more, particularly in large portfolios. If you are buying in a building managed by a slow agent, your conveyancer should chase proactively from the point of instruction rather than waiting for the information to arrive.

How Muve can help

Leasehold transactions are where conveyancing quality makes the most tangible difference. The issues that cause delays, incomplete LPE1 packs, ground rent clauses flagged late, and building safety documentation that does not arrive until a lender has already reviewed the file are almost always avoidable if the right questions are asked early and followed up consistently.

Here at Muve, leasehold transactions are reviewed at instruction for the issues most likely to cause problems: lease length, ground rent structure, the building’s safety documentation status, and the track record of the managing agent. When we identify a concern, we set out what it means, what the options are, and the realistic impact on the timeline, rather than raising it as an obstacle without a path forward.

If you are buying a leasehold property and want to understand what you are taking on before you are committed, speak to us early. The conversations that happen before the offer are almost always easier than the ones that happen after the exchange.

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