Frequently Asked Questions

The landlord clients of HomeGround Management Ltd are willing to enter into informal negotiations with their leaseholders. You can apply for a leasehold extension and pay the administration fee through your personal account on the HomeGround portal.

To register for a personal account you need your alphanumeric security key and your 12-digit customer reference number. These should be on your HomeGround invoice or your welcome letter and you can register here.

If you have already registered on our portal and need help with your password, please click here.

Although we recommend that you use the forms on the online portal, you can get in touch with the asset transaction team through this contact form or by post at:

HomeGround Management Ltd
PO Box 6433
London W1A 2UZ

We can then send you the form for lease extensions by email or post.

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 extend your lease. This offer price is always inclusive of the freeholder’s fees and expenses and VAT (if applicable), so there are no hidden extras.

Once you have received this offer price, you can:

1. Either accept it
2. Or make a counter-offer if you think the offer price is too high – further counter-offers may follow 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.

Our freeholders 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 this is the case, you will need to provide contact details for your solicitor.

If you and the freeholder are unable to agree a price you do retain your rights under the Leasehold Reform Housing & Urban Development Act 1993 and you can proceed with formal negotiations.

The fee covers the costs of obtaining a landlord offer price. If an agreement is reached on an informal basis, the fee will be deducted from the price upon completion of the transaction.

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

• Checking the terms of your lease for length and level of ground rent payable;
• Checking whether you meet the qualification requirements under the legislation (for example, has your property been registered to you for at least two years?);
• Checking whether the account is in breach or in arrears;
• Referring to recent case law on lease extensions, where required;
• 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;
• Assessing any counter-offers received and dealing with subsequent negotiations on behalf of the landlord.

HomeGround and the landlord are only able to negotiate with the current owner of the property.

You will receive an offer letter that states the terms under which the landlord is prepared to extend your lease.

The offer will be valid for 90 days, and it will reflect the value of the landlord’s interest in the property at the time of your application. It will be inclusive of the landlord’s legal and administrative costs for completing the sale.

The landlord offer price represents the long-term value they attribute to their interest in the property.

Since HomeGround do not represent former owners of the freehold title, we will not have been privy to any previous discussions you may have had during that period of ownership.

However, we would like to emphasise that offer figures issued on behalf of our clients are negotiable and that you do have the option of taking independent advice and of putting forward a counter-offer, which will receive due consideration.

1. There is a defined process for bringing the matter to a conclusion via the strict timetable as set out in the legislation.
2. The valuation date is fixed at the date when the notice is served.
3. If you are unable to agree terms, you have recourse to an independent arbitration process and have the option of taking the matter to a tribunal, whose decisions are binding.

1. Professional fees (e.g. for legal advice) payable as part of the process are typically lower, and there is no requirement to pay surveyors’ fees.
2. The process is likely to provide you with a much faster resolution.

If you have applied for terms to extend your lease and you agree to the terms on offer, the fees payable at conveyancing stage are made up of:

• Landlord offer price fee = £150*
• Landlord’s solicitor (third party) legal fees (conveyancing) = £700 plus VAT (£840 total)
• HomeGround administration fee (instructing solicitors, preparing documents for signature, updating records) = £400
• Disbursements = normally minimal and typically in the region of £20.

*Please note that the landlord offer price fee of £150 will be refunded on completion of your lease extension.