Leasehold Conveyancing Costs and Extra Charges

Leasehold conveyancing costs more than a straightforward freehold because extra people sit on the file: a freeholder or managing agent, sometimes a residents’ management company, and a lease that has to be read as well as a title. Some of those extras are the solicitor’s extra time. Many are third-party charges the freeholder or agent sets — they are not our legal fee.

This page is general information for England and Wales, last reviewed on 30 August 2026. Ranges below are typical market figures, not an Ethical quote. Freeholders charge what their lease and their current tariff say. The solicitor on the file will itemise what actually arises.

How we work. Ethical Conveyancing is an introducer, not a regulated law firm. Panel solicitors regulated by the SRA do the legal work. Fixed fees start from £400 with no hidden extras; the quote engine shows the legal fee, including any leasehold supplement, once the property is flagged as leasehold.

Buying a leasehold? Get a purchase quote. Selling one? Get a sale quote.

Why leasehold files cost more

Compared with a freehold house, the solicitor typically also:

• reads the lease (often a long document with ground rent, service charge, use restrictions and forfeiture wording);
• collects a management pack from the managing agent or freeholder;
• deals with notices, deeds of covenant and certificates of compliance the lease requires on a sale;
• checks arrears, planned major works, insurance and any disputes;
• serves post-completion notices so the buyer is recognised as the new leaseholder.

For the difference in tenure itself, see freehold vs leasehold.

Common charges at a glance

Figures are typical third-party or market ranges seen on England and Wales files. They vary widely. They are not our quote.

VAT may sit on top of freeholder and agent fees. Land Registry statutory fees are separate — see GOV.UK registration fees.

Management pack (sellers, and buyers who wait on it)

The pack (often an LPE1 plus supporting accounts) is how the buyer’s solicitor sees service charges, insurance, planned works, breaches and who manages the building. Sellers typically order and pay for it. Slow packs are one of the main reasons leasehold purchases run long.

Selling? Ordering the pack when the property goes on the market, rather than after an offer, is what usually saves time. Get a sale quote.

Notices, deeds of covenant, certificates of compliance

These are the fees that often appear only at the end of the file, because they live in the lease rather than in a standard quote.

• Notice of assignment / transfer — the lease often requires the new owner to be notified to the freeholder within a set number of days after completion, for a fee set in the lease or the current tariff.
• Notice of charge — a further notice if a mortgage is being registered.
• Deed of covenant — the incoming owner promises the freeholder they will perform the lease. Some leases require this; some management companies have their own form.
• Certificate of compliance — some registers cannot be updated until the freeholder certifies that lease conditions on a transfer have been met.

Who pays which of these is a matter of the lease and the contract. Buyers often meet the post-completion notice fees; sellers often meet the pack. The solicitor will say what the lease in front of them actually requires.

Ground rent, service charges and short leases

Service charges are the ongoing cost of running the building. The pack typically shows recent accounts and any planned major works. Unusually large anticipated bills are a legal and practical question for the solicitor and, if there is a mortgage, the lender — not something this page can score as “acceptable”.

Ground rent on many new residential leases is now a peppercorn under the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022. Older leases can still have ground rent that rises, including doubling clauses. Whether a given clause is a problem for mortgageability is a lender-and-solicitor question on that lease.

Lease length. Many lenders are cautious once a lease has fewer than about 80 years left, because the premium to extend typically rises and “marriage value” still forms part of the current statutory valuation. That is lender practice, not a law that a lease becomes void at 80 years.

Lease extension rights — what is in force (and what is not)

This is the section that is easy to overstate. It is not the case that a buyer already has a 90-year or 990-year extension in their back pocket while they are still buying.

In force at last review (30 August 2026):

• Statutory lease-extension and enfranchisement rights exist for qualifying leaseholders of houses and flats, under the older 1967 and 1993 Acts. What qualifies, and what it costs, depends on the lease and the valuation.
• For most flats, a statutory extension under the 1993 Act still adds 90 years at a peppercorn ground rent. That is the current in-force model, not a 990-year term.
• The two-year ownership wait before a qualifying leaseholder could claim an extension or enfranchisement was abolished on 31 January 2025 (Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, section 27, commenced by SI 2025/57). A buyer who becomes the registered leaseholder can typically start a claim without waiting two years. That is a right of a leaseholder, usually exercised after they own the flat — it is not a right that completes the extension during the purchase.
• New residential leases generally cannot charge a ground rent other than a peppercorn (Ground Rent Act 2022).

Passed in 2024 but not in force:

• 990-year statutory extensions
• Abolition of marriage value
• The new valuation-rate / ground-rent-cap machinery in the 2024 Act

Those provisions need further commencement and secondary legislation. Government consultation on valuation rates opened in July 2026. Until they are commenced, claims are still valued under the old rules (including marriage value below 80 years).

Proposed, not yet law: the draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill (published January 2026) is a set of proposals, not current conveyancing practice.

Copy rule we follow: some reforms have taken effect; others are proposed or awaiting commencement. The solicitor explains what applies to the lease in front of them. Independent overviews: LEASE and GOV.UK leasehold property.

Building safety and EWS1

Lender appetite for an EWS1 (or similar external-wall assessment) has moved several times. Height, storeys, materials and the individual lender’s handbook all matter. “Over 7 storeys” is too neat. Where a lender wants an assessment and the building does not have one, that can delay or stop a mortgage. The solicitor and the lender on the file say what they need for that building.

Indemnity insurance

Indemnity policies are sometimes used where a historic breach (for example an alteration without consent) cannot be regularised before completion. Who pays the premium is negotiated; it is not a rule that “the party who created the problem always pays”. A policy is not the same as fixing the underlying issue. Whether it is acceptable is a solicitor-and-lender question.

Why people instruct through Ethical

Ethical Conveyancing is an introducer, not a regulated law firm. Panel solicitors do the legal work. What you get with us:

• Fixed legal fees — from £400 on a sale or purchase, from £230 on a remortgage. The legal fee we quote is the legal fee you pay. Disbursements (searches, Land Registry, and the like) sit on top.
• No Move, No Legal Fee — if the transaction does not complete, you do not pay our legal fee. Disbursements already incurred are still payable.
• A highly rated solicitor on our panel — not a call-centre file. Rated 4.9/5 or higher on review sites.
• A dedicated support manager and an online portal so you can track the file without chasing.
• A clear quote in under 60 seconds. We are not always the cheapest headline on a five-quote shop. We sell a fixed, itemised legal fee and a file you can actually follow.

Buying a leasehold? Get a purchase quote and tick that it is leasehold. Selling one? Get a sale quote.

Frequently asked questions