Buying your building's freehold with your neighbours ends the freeholder relationship for good: service charges you control, leases you can extend at will, ground rent gone. Connaught Law's collective enfranchisement solicitors act for leaseholder groups across London and the UK — from the first kitchen-table conversation to registration of the freehold.
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How We Can Help
What Collective Enfranchisement Is
A statutory right under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for qualifying leaseholders — long leases over 21 years — to compel the freeholder to sell the building's freehold. At least half the flats in the building must participate, the building must be predominantly residential, and the freeholder cannot simply refuse: the right is exercised against them, at a price the statute controls.
Why Buy Your Freehold
Control and value. Participants typically grant themselves 999-year leases at a peppercorn afterwards, ground rent disappears, service charges and management pass to the leaseholders, and flats with a share of freehold generally sell better. For buildings with short leases, enfranchisement also solves every flat's extension problem in one transaction rather than one negotiation per flat.
The Process
It runs in stages we manage end to end: a participation agreement binding the group, a specialist valuation of the premium, the company that will hold the freehold, the Initial Notice that fixes your offer, the freeholder's counter-notice, then negotiation — with the First-tier Tribunal setting the price if agreement fails. Group discipline is the hidden variable: the claims that fail are usually the ones where the participants fall apart, which is what the participation agreement exists to prevent.
The Right to Manage Alternative
If what your building really wants is control of management rather than ownership, the Right to Manage delivers it without buying anything — and the 2024 reforms already in force have made RTM claims cheaper, with leaseholders no longer footing the freeholder's legal costs. Our Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act guide covers what's changed and what's still pending, including the enfranchisement valuation reforms not yet in force.
Missing Freeholders & Vesting Orders
An absent or untraceable freeholder doesn't block the claim. The court can make a vesting order transferring the freehold with the premium paid into court, on a valuation the tribunal determines. These claims need their own procedure — service attempts, evidence of the search, the right applications in the right order — and we run them regularly.
After the Purchase
Ownership is the start of a structure: new 999-year leases for participants, terms for any non-participating flats, the freehold company's rules for decisions and future sales, and management arrangements that actually work. We set this up at the outset — the buildings that fight later are the ones that skipped this step.
How We Work
We start with feasibility: does the building qualify, who's in, and what the premium is likely to be — with a specialist valuer's input before anyone commits serious money. Then the sequence runs on statutory deadlines that we own: notices served correctly, counter-notice dates diarised, negotiation with the tribunal as leverage. The government-funded Leasehold Advisory Service is a useful independent reference for participants throughout.
One warning worth hearing early: valuation reform under the 2024 Act may eventually change premiums, but it is not in force and has no date. Groups with leases approaching 80 years should do the arithmetic before waiting on principle — we'll do it with you honestly.
Why Connaught Law
01Group claims held togetherParticipation agreements and clear communication keep the group intact from first meeting to registration.
02Valuation-led strategyWe work with specialist enfranchisement valuers so your offer lands right the first time.
03Senior attention throughoutYour claim is run by our experienced property team, not passed down — with direct access to the person handling it.
04Difficult freeholders, handledObstructive, absent or untraceable — the statute has an answer for each, and we've used them all.
Fee structures and funding options are set out on our fees page — we discuss costs openly before your group commits to anything.
Frequently Asked Questions
How many flats need to take part in collective enfranchisement?
At least half of the flats in the building must participate, and participants must hold long leases — originally granted for more than 21 years. Non-participants keep their existing leases and simply gain a new landlord: your freehold company.
How much does buying the freehold cost?
The premium depends on the building's value, the leases' lengths and ground rents — with short leases adding materially to the price under current valuation law. A specialist valuation early is money well spent: it sets your offer, your negotiating floor and each participant's share before anyone is committed.
What if the freeholder can't be found?
The claim proceeds without them. After proper attempts at service, the court can grant a vesting order transferring the freehold, with the premium determined by the tribunal and paid into court. Absent freeholders make the process longer, not impossible.
Should we enfranchise or just claim the Right to Manage?
RTM gives control of management quickly and relatively cheaply — and recent reforms have cut its costs further — but the freeholder remains your landlord and ground rents continue. Enfranchisement costs more and delivers ownership: 999-year leases, no ground rent, and the building's future in the leaseholders' hands. We'll set out both for your building.
Thinking of buying your freehold?
Tell us about your building and how many neighbours are interested. We'll assess qualification, likely premium and the practical path — before your group commits to anything.
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