Leasehold

If you are buying a share of the freehold, is the flat still held on a lease?

Usually yes. The government’s commonhold white paper describes share of freehold as a share in a landlord company whose members are leaseholders, set up by a developer or created when leaseholders buy the freehold. The flat remains leasehold. That paper’s comparison still shows ground rent according to the individual leases, and that a new lease may be needed. The survey does not read those documents.

Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.

What is the fuller explanation?

People hear ‘share of freehold’ and stop reading the lease. The lease still says who repairs the roof, what the service charge is, and how long the term is. Owning a share of the company may change who sits on the other side of the table. It does not delete the lease, and it does not make the building freehold in the way a house on its own plot is freehold.

Ask your solicitor for the lease, the freehold title, and the company papers, and ask which of them you are actually buying. Ask the surveyor only about the building. A sound roof does not extend a lease. A short lease is not a crack.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Are you commenting on the building only, and not on the share of freehold?
Which defects would still be mine to understand if I also own a share of the freehold?
What should the solicitor read that you did not?

What are the typical next steps?

Have the solicitor explain the lease and the company, in that order.
Do not skip service-charge accounts because an agent said ‘share of freehold’.
Keep the survey for condition. Keep the lease length for the solicitor.

Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.

Also asked about this

Is share of freehold the same as shared ownership?

No. Shared ownership is buying a share and paying rent on the rest. Share of freehold is about who owns the freehold. The white paper treats them as different.

Does a share of the freehold remove ground rent?

Not by itself. The white paper says ground rent follows the individual leases. Read this lease.