Leasehold housing in England: Statistics

Many residential properties in England and Wales are owned on a leasehold basis. In leasehold arrangements, the leaseholder owns their property for a time-limited period and a freeholder retains control of the land that the leasehold property is built on.

This briefing explains official estimates of the number of leasehold homes of different types in England, and the experiences of leaseholder households. It also includes analysis of data published by HM Land Registry on leasehold property transactions.

How many homes are leasehold in England?

According to estimates from the Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government (MHCLG), there were around 4.8 million leasehold homes in England in 2023/24. Flats are much more likely to be leasehold than houses.

Leasehold flats

Leasehold is the default tenure for privately owned flats in England and Wales. In this arrangement, the freeholder is often responsible for the management and upkeep of the building.

MHCLG estimates that 91% of owner-occupied flats in England are leasehold, along with 71% of privately rented flats. In total, there are an estimated 3.5 million leasehold flats in England.

98% of flat sales recorded by HM Land Registry in 2024 were leasehold.

Leasehold houses

It is also possible for houses to be owned on a leasehold basis, but this is much less common. MHCLG estimates that around 7% of houses were leasehold in 2023/24.

Leasehold houses are more common in certain parts of England. MHCLG estimates that 22% of houses in the North West were leasehold in 2023/24.

The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 restricts the sale of new-build houses on a leasehold basis, although this provision has yet to come into force. Houses with an existing leasehold arrangement in place are not affected by the act and can continue to be sold as leasehold.

Reforming the sale of new-build leasehold houses was a policy first discussed by the Conservative government at the time in 2017, and sales of new leasehold houses have declined continuously since then. In January 2017, around 18% of new-build houses were sold as leasehold, a proportion that had fallen to below 1% by late 2023.

Because their sale is not restricted, leasehold transactions on existing houses have remained fairly static at around 7% of all transactions.

Constituency data

This briefing provides statistics on leasehold transactions in constituencies in England and Wales in 2024.

Leasehold transactions are most common in constituencies that have a large number of flats in their housing stock (for example, many constituencies in London).

They are also more common in constituencies in the parts of England where leasehold house sales have historically been common (such as Liverpool, Greater Manchester and Sheffield). The Excel file for download alongside this briefing paper has data for individual constituencies.

Households in leasehold homes

MHCLG has published data drawn from the English Housing Survey (EHS) on the characteristics and finances of households living in leasehold homes.

Demographics

Around 50% of households who are owner-occupiers in a leasehold home were one-person households in 2023/24, while 26% were couples without children and 13% had dependent children.

Leasehold owner-occupiers tend to be younger than freehold owner-occupiers, and are somewhat more likely to belong to Asian or Black ethnic groups.

Ground rents and service charges

The EHS collects data on ground rents and service charges paid by leaseholders, although MHCLG notes that respondents aren’t always able to provide accurate information.

In 2023/24, leasehold owner-occupiers reported paying a median annual ground rent of £120 a year, and a median annual service charge of £1,375 a year. Leaseholders living in flats were more likely to pay a service charge than leaseholders living in houses.