Frequently Asked Questions

No, as from 1^st May 2026 any Assured Shorthold Tenancy will automatically become an assured periodic tenancy.  You do not need to enter into a new tenancy agreement with your existing sub-tenant.  Any fixed end date in your original tenancy agreement will no longer apply, and the agreement will be deemed to be subject to the terms of the new Act. There is no need to advise us of the change.

You should also make sure you have given the new Information Sheet which can be downloaded at https://www.gov.uk/government/publications/the-renters-rights-act-information-sheet-2026  to your current sub-tenants by 31^st May 2026.

Yes, the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 abolished fixed term contracts. This may mean you need to obtain consent/and or register your tenancy agreement where you might not have had to in the past. An example of this is if there is a clause in your lease that allows sub-letting without consent if on an AST, or for a period of 12 months or less. As new assured tenancy agreements can no longer have a fixed end date you will need to obtain consent and/or register your tenancy agreement with HomeGround. Doing this via our secure customer online portal is easy and convenient and you can upload supporting documents, provide the sub-tenant’s details and pay the relevant fee.

No, you will not need to vary your lease. The changes coming into force on 1^st May 2026 from the Renters’ Rights Act 2025 will mean you can no longer create new Assured Shorthold Tenancy Agreements. Any existing Assured Shorthold Tenancy will automatically convert to an assured periodic tenancy.

You have a right to buy your freehold under legislation, if you meet some minimum criteria. These criteria and the procedure to follow, including how your freehold is formally valued, are set out in the Leasehold Reform Act 1967.

You can only purchase your freehold if your property is a house.

• Formal negotiations require you to obtain independent legal and, usually, valuation advice.
• Informal negotiations means you deal directly with the freeholder, without following the procedures set out under the Leasehold Reform Act 1967.

You can choose to enter either formal or informal negotiations.

The Leasehold Reform Act 1967 is a detailed piece of legislation that introduced rights for leaseholders of houses to buy their freehold, among other things. It sets out a procedure to be followed by both leaseholders and freeholders.

In relation to buying your freehold, the 1967 Act includes:

1. Minimum criteria leaseholders must meet to buy the freehold;
2. The information you need to give your freeholder to claim your right to buy the freehold, and how this must be done;
3. How long the freeholder is allowed before replying to your claim and what information they must give you;
4. How the price of the freehold should be calculated. If the leaseholder and freeholder can’t agree, it gives a right to ask a specialist property tribunal to make a legally binding decision. Either party can also ask the property tribunal to decide on other disagreements, such as the minimum qualifying criteria or how much the freeholder’s reasonable costs should be (see 6);
5. How the process of recording your ownership of the freehold should be done once all issues are decided;
6. A condition that the leaseholder must pay the freeholder’s reasonable costs (for example, for the work done by the freeholder’s solicitor and valuer), as well as their own costs of going through this process.

Unfortunately, the landlord is not in a position to offer the freehold to individual leasehold flat owners on an informal basis.

However, this does not affect your statutory right under the act to seek purchase of the freehold should at least 50% of the leaseholders in the block wish to do so. Please note that you will need to seek independent legal advice should you wish to proceed this way.

The landlord clients of Homeground Management Limited are willing to enter into informal negotiations with their leaseholders.

You can apply for informal negotiations and pay the administration fee through your personal account on the HomeGround portal. To access your HomeGround account, please sign in. If you need help with your password, please click here.

If you have yet to register on our portal, you will need your alphanumeric security key and your 12-digit customer reference number. These can be found on HomeGround invoices or the welcome letter we sent. 

Once an application has been received and the administration fee has been paid, within 3–5 working days Homeground will send you the price at which the freeholder would be willing to sell the freehold. This offer price is always inclusive of the freeholder’s fees and expenses and VAT (if applicable), in other words, there are no hidden extras.

Once you have received this offer price, you can:

1. Accept it
2. Make a counter-offer if you think the landlord’s offer price is too high – further counter-offers may be made until an agreement is reached.

Once agreement is reached between you and the freeholder then HomeGround will instruct the freeholder’s solicitors to formalise the matter. We may then need the contact details for your solicitor. While our clients do not require a leaseholder to appoint their own solicitor in order to complete the conveyancing stage of the transaction, if you have a mortgage, your mortgage provider may require you to appoint your own solicitor. We recommend that you contact your mortgage provider to check.

If you and the freeholder are unable to agree a price then you still have the right to buy your freehold by way of formal negotiations.

This fee covers the costs of obtaining a landlord offer price. If an agreement is reached on an informal basis, it will be deducted from the price upon completion of the transaction. It is not refundable if an agreement is not reached.

HomeGround undertakes various services on behalf of your freeholder, including:

1. Checking the terms of your lease for length and the level of ground rent payable;
2. Checking whether you meet the qualification requirements under the legislation;
3. Checking whether your account is in breach or in arrears;
4. Referring to recent case law, where required;
5. Obtaining a landlord offer price and preparing an offer letter setting out the price, inclusive of the landlord’s legal and administrative costs for dealing with the sale;
6. Assessing any counter-offers received from you and dealing with subsequent negotiations on behalf of the landlord.