When you acquire a leasehold property you are acquiring the right to occupy that property for a fixed period of time. The freeholder retains the freehold title.

In most cases the title is split in that you will own the internal walls as the leaseholder and the freeholder will own the external walls.

In the lease there will be provisions dealing with responsibility for the eternal walls and area and it is likely that you will be required to pay a management fee for their upkeep as well as ground rent for the right to occupy the land.

The lease sets out all these rights and obligations and this is why it is so important you obtain expert advice. Not all leases are the same and every purchase has its own pitfalls.

One area that can cause difficulty is dealing with the management company. When acquiring a leasehold it is important to determine the likely costs from the management company and whether there are any arrears at all.

When either buying or selling a leasehold you should allow a greater period of time than a freehold purchase or sale due to the additional enquiries that will need to be raised.

We would estimate a typical timescale of 10 – 12 weeks.