If you and your fellow leaseholders are tired of ground rent, service charge disputes and an unresponsive freeholder, buying the freehold together — known as collective enfranchisement — lets you take back control of the building. Here is how it works.
Collective enfranchisement is the statutory right for leaseholders in a building to club together and force the freeholder to sell them the freehold, even if the freeholder does not want to sell. Once you own the freehold, ground rent is extinguished for participating leaseholders, you control who manages the building, and each participant can grant themselves a long lease extension (typically 999 years) at no extra premium as part of the same transaction.
Buildings with a resident freeholder who occupies one of the flats have some special rules, so it's worth getting specialist advice early if this applies to you.
| Step | What happens |
|---|---|
| 1. Form a nominee | Participating leaseholders usually set up a company to act as the buyer and future freeholder. |
| 2. Get a valuation | Instruct a RICS-accredited valuer to assess the premium payable to the freeholder. |
| 3. Serve the Initial Notice | A formal notice proposing a price is served on the freeholder, starting the statutory timetable. |
| 4. Freeholder responds | The freeholder serves a Counter Notice, either accepting or disputing the terms. |
| 5. Negotiate or go to tribunal | Most claims settle through negotiation; unresolved disputes go to the First-tier Tribunal. |
| 6. Completion | The freehold transfers to your nominee company, and participating leaseholders can extend their leases as part of the deal. |
Costs are typically shared between participating leaseholders in proportion to the value of their flats. Get an early estimate from a valuer before committing, as the numbers vary enormously by building.
If your main concern is a short lease, a statutory lease extension may be simpler, faster and cheaper than organising a collective claim, especially if your neighbours are not interested in participating. Buying the freehold makes most sense when the whole building has issues beyond just lease length, such as a poorly performing managing agent, escalating service charges, or an unresponsive freeholder — problems a lease extension alone will not fix. If you're weighing up your options, our guide to your rights as a leaseholder covers the other tools available to you, such as challenging charges at tribunal.
Before starting a claim, understand your current position:
Compare the statutory extension premium against an enfranchisement to see which route may suit your building.
Launch Tool →Benchmark your current service charge before deciding whether self-management is worth pursuing.
Launch Tool →See what your ground rent is currently costing you — it's extinguished entirely once you own the freehold.
Launch Tool →If a full freehold purchase feels like too much for your building, read our guide to Right to Manage — a simpler route to taking control of day-to-day management without buying the freehold itself.