Leasehold Guidance

The law in England states that no more than 4 persons can own the same lease of land.

When collectively buying the freehold (clubbing together to buy out the landlord with your fellow leaseholders), it is customary to set up a limited company. This company owns the freehold title and may be limited by 'share capital' or more commonly by guarantee.

Share capital companies issue share certificates to company members, which represent each leaseholder's share of any profit or loss made by the company. With most freehold and 'right to manage' companies however, there is little or no profit and changes of company members make re-issuing shares impractical.

Companies limited by guarantee are a more popular choice because there is just a simple register of members to maintain.

We can help you set up a company to buy your freehold with whether or not you intend to use Ringley's Legal Services Team to do the physical conveyance.

You may be at this stage either because you have already negotiated and settled on a premium, or because you wish to form a company to use as the vehicle through which to serve formal notice to claim your rights.

If you would like us to carry out one or more of the stages of the work necessary to deliver you your end goal of freehold ownership and management control of your block then please indicate the services you require on the instruction letter.

We recommend that as many leaseholders as possible take office and share the responsibility for running the company. Please ensure all fields are filled in or Companies House will reject the form (ie, date of birth, profession) and SIGN THE TOP BOX consenting to become an officer of the Company, NOT the bottom box.

Other useful links:

Please note:

The leaseholder claiming his rights is the party that in law is responsible for both parties costs and it is my understanding that if the residents have served Notice then the Landlord's surveyors fees form part of the purchase price together with reasonable legal fees. It is not therefore until we are in contact with the Landlord's solicitors that an estimate of all costs can be known. Booking your instruction as a job can be done via phoning our Booking Office on 0207 428 1970 and speak to Jennifer or Shahina, or completing the attached form and emailing it back to us.


Call us on 0207 428 1976 with any questions

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