Buying a share of the freehold for your flat
The landlord’s response
After the initial notice has been served the landlord has the right to:
- request evidence from the nominee purchaser of the participating leaseholders’ titles to their flats
- inspect the property, including participating leaseholders’ flats – so long as they give leaseholders 10 days’ advance notice
The nominee purchaser must produce titles to the leaseholders’ flats within 21 days. The nominee purchaser will need to provide this evidence for at least half the flats, to meet the eligibility criteria.
Important
If not enough leaseholders provide titles to their flats, and the nominated purchaser cannot provide titles for at least 50% of the flats in the building within 21 days, the initial notice will be withdrawn, and you’ll need to pay the freeholder’s costs.
The initial notice cannot then be resubmitted for 12 months.
The landlord’s counter-notice
The landlord’s counter-notice is the landlord's official response to the initial notice served by the nominee purchaser. The landlord must serve the counter-notice by the deadline set in the initial notice.
What the counter-notice must say
The landlord must respond in the counter-notice with one the following positions.
Agrees to the leaseholders’ right to the freehold - Show Contents Hide Contents
If the freeholder agrees to your right to buy the freehold, they will either:
- accept your terms
- propose alternative terms
When they accept your terms, your solicitor can then draw up the contract.
When they propose alternative terms, you have 2 more months to reach an agreement. If after 2 months you cannot agree, you have a further 4 months to apply to a tribunal to rule on the terms. Either you or the landlord can apply to a tribunal.
Agrees to the leaseholders’ right to part of the freehold - Show Contents Hide Contents
If the freeholder owns one or more flats in the building that are not let to a qualifying leaseholder, they have the option to take just those flats on a 999-year lease (a “leaseback”). They then hand over control of the building except for those flats being taken on leaseback.
In this scenario, the value of the flats taken on leaseback is deducted from the price calculations. If there is a disagreement on the final price because of this, the nominee purchaser can ask their solicitor to apply to the tribunal for an independent judgment.
Does not agree to the leaseholders’ right to the freehold - Show Contents Hide Contents
If the freeholder does not agree that you have the right of collective enfranchisement, they must give their reasons in their counter-notice. You then have 2 months from the date of receiving the counter-notice to apply to the court for their declaration that the initial notice is valid.
Plans to redevelop the building - Show Contents Hide Contents
The freeholder does not have to sell the freehold if they can prove to the court that they intend to demolish and redevelop the building, or at least a large part of it.
This only applies if at least two-thirds of all leases in the building are due to end within 5 years of the initial notice being served.
If the freeholder does not send a counter-notice
If the freeholder does not send a counter-notice by the deadline, the nominee purchaser can apply to the court to order the sale of the freehold at the price and terms of the initial notice.
You have up to 6 months after the deadline for the counter-notice to make the application. If you do not apply within 6 months, the initial notice is considered to be withdrawn.
- Last updated:
- 20 December 2025
- Next review:
- 20 December 2027