Leasehold Property law. Personally delivered.
Leasehold Property law. Personally delivered.
On a leasehold sale nothing moves until the pack is produced. What a well-run freehold company keeps ready, and what it may charge.
Reviewed 25 July 2026
A company that responds in a week is invisible. One that takes six is the reason a chain collapsed, and will hear about it from every leaseholder in the building.
Almost every leasehold sale begins the same way: the seller's solicitor asks the landlord, management company or managing agent to complete the LPE1 enquiries form and supply the supporting documents. Nothing much can happen until that pack arrives, and nothing at all can complete until the certificate of compliance is given at the other end.
That means a freehold company controls the timetable far more than it usually realises — and volunteer directors with day jobs are frequently the bottleneck without knowing it.
Three years of service charge accounts, the current budget and the reserve fund position. The insurance policy and schedule with evidence the premium is paid. Any deeds of variation, licences to alter, licences to assign and previous certificates. Notices served, disputes, arrears. Fire risk assessment, asbestos survey and the building safety information the form now requires.
Completing the pack, preparing a deed of covenant, considering a licence to assign, receiving notices and issuing a certificate are all services and all properly attract a fee. In a long residential lease they are administration charges, payable only so far as reasonable, and a leaseholder can apply to the Tribunal for a determination.
One requirement is missed constantly: a demand for an administration charge must be accompanied by a summary of the leaseholder's rights and obligations in the prescribed form. Without it the leaseholder may withhold payment — the commonest and most avoidable reason a company does not get paid.
Accounts certified. Insurance reviewed and filed. Registers of leaseholders, members and shares brought up to date. Consents logged. A dated fee schedule refreshed. Address for service confirmed. Done annually that is a short meeting; done reactively in the middle of somebody's sale, it is why the chain fell through.
We take the transactional load off management companies — packs, deeds of covenant, licences and certificates — on a turnaround your leaseholders will not complain about.
This article reflects our understanding of the position on 25 July 2026 and is general information rather than legal advice. The law in this area is changing: take advice on your own circumstances before relying on it.
Tell us what has happened and what you would like to achieve, and we will tell you plainly where you stand, what it is likely to cost and how long it will take.
