Estimate the cost of buying the freehold of your leasehold house · Free & instant
Enter your house’s freehold value, remaining lease and ground rent.
This calculator estimates what you would pay the freeholder to buy the freehold of a leasehold house. It adds two components, both discounted at 5%, the deferment rate set for flats in Sportelli (2007):
The “indicative range” shows the result at 4.5% and 5.5%, so you can see how sensitive the figure is to the rate. The total adds an assumed £6,000 for professional fees, the midpoint of the £4,000–£8,000 range in our fee guide.
| House value | Lease left | Ground rent | Ground rent value | Reversion | Estimated premium |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| £350,000 | 85 years | £200 | £3,940 | £5,530 | £9,470 |
| £320,000 | 78 years | £250 | £4,890 | £7,120 | £12,000 |
| £500,000 | 75 years | £400 | £7,790 | £12,880 | £20,700 |
| £250,000 | 60 years | £100 | £1,890 | £13,380 | £15,300 |
The premium is a few percent of house value on a long lease and rises sharply as the lease shortens, because the reversion is discounted over fewer years. See our guide to the cost of buying your freehold for the fees and the full process.
The two-year ownership rule was removed on 31 January 2025, so you can claim as soon as you own the lease. The 2024 Act’s valuation changes are not yet in force; see the reform tracker.
Add the capitalised ground rent (annual ground rent times the years' purchase factor at 5%) to the reversion (freehold value discounted over the years remaining at 5%). This calculator does that. It excludes any marriage value, your own professional fees and the freeholder's costs.
Not directly. A flat owner usually cannot buy the freehold alone; leaseholders in the building buy it together by collective enfranchisement, and the price is for the whole building. For a single flat, the lease extension calculator is the relevant tool.
This calculator does not model marriage value. On some valuation bases under the 1967 Act a short lease of 80 years or fewer can add marriage value or a similar element, so the result can understate the cost for short leases. A RICS valuer will confirm.
Typically about £4,000–£8,000 in total, covering your solicitor, your surveyor and the freeholder's reasonable costs. The 2024 Act would stop leaseholders paying the freeholder's costs, but that change is not yet in force. The total shown on this page assumes £6,000.
Possibly, because the Act provides for new prescribed valuation rates and abolishing marriage value, but those provisions are not in force and no commencement date is confirmed. Do not delay a purchase you need on the assumption that costs will fall.
This calculator’s methodology is reviewed by James Norton MRICS, a Chartered Surveyor and Registered Valuer. Legal and process content is reviewed by Sarah Mitcham, a property solicitor. See our calculator methodology and editorial policy. The calculator provides estimates only and is not a valuation or legal advice.
We’ll notify you when 2024 Act provisions come into force and when new premium rates are confirmed.