Leasehold Statistics UK 2026

England had an estimated 4.90 million leasehold dwellings in 2024-25, equal to one home in five.

The latest figures published in 2026 show that leasehold remains concentrated in flats, London and the North West, while rising service charges and slower transactions continue to affect owners and buyers.

This article uses the newest official statistics available, supported by current industry research where government data do not yet cover 2025 or 2026.

As residential leasehold are granted in England and Wales only, UK-wide references are clearly separated from England-only and England-and-Wales figures.

UK Leasehold Scale

Leasehold is a mainstream tenure in England rather than a niche one, and it accounts for almost every flat sale. The figures below set out how many homes are held this way, how they split between flats and houses, and how often they change hands.

• In 2024-25, 4.90 million dwellings in England were leasehold – 20% of the national housing stock.
• In 2024-25, 19.74 million dwellings in England were freehold – about 4 freehold homes for every leasehold home.
• In 2024-25, 3.38 million English leasehold dwellings were flats and 1.52 million were houses – a 69% to 31% split.
• In 2024-25, around 1.91 million leasehold homes in England were privately rented – 39% of the leasehold stock.
• In 2021, approximately 235,000 properties in Wales were leasehold – about 16% of all Welsh properties.
• Combining the latest estimates gives about 5.14 million leasehold dwellings across England and Wales – 4.90 million in England (2024-25) plus 235,000 in Wales (2021).
• Around 260,000 leasehold transactions take place each year – more than 700 a day on a simple annual average.
• In 2024, 98% of flat sales in England and Wales were leasehold – leaving only 2% under another tenure.

Property and Regions

Leasehold is unevenly spread across England, with London and the North West holding far more than their share. These figures show where leasehold homes sit, what type they are and when they were built.

• In 2024-25, London had 1.44 million leasehold dwellings – 39% of all homes in the capital.
• In 2024-25, the North West had about 999,000 leasehold dwellings – 30% of the region’s homes.
• In 2024-25, houses made up 70% of North West leasehold stock, while flats made up 94% of London’s.
• In 2023-24, 91% of owner-occupied flats in England were leasehold – compared with 71% of privately rented flats.
• In 2023-24, owner occupiers held 1.1 million low-rise leasehold flats, 675,000 leasehold houses and 122,000 high-rise leasehold flats – about 1.9 million homes in total.
• In 2023-24, 35% of owner-occupied high-rise leasehold flats were built after 2012 – versus 15% of leasehold houses and 12% of low-rise flats.
• In 2023-24, 35% of owner-occupied leasehold houses were built before 1945 – compared with 23% of low-rise leasehold flats.

Leaseholder Households

The people living in leasehold homes differ sharply depending on whether they own a flat or a house. The data below profiles owner-occupier leaseholder households by size, family type and marital status.

• In 2023-24, 50% of owner-occupier leaseholder households were one person living alone – the largest household type.
• In 2023-24, 26% of leaseholder households were couples without children at home – twice the 13% with dependent children.
• In 2023-24, 61% of flat leaseholders lived alone – nearly double the 31% of leasehold-house owners.
• In 2023-24, couples with dependent children made up 21% of leasehold-house households – versus 8% in flats.
• In 2023-24, 45% of leaseholder households were headed by a single person – ahead of 31% headed by someone married or in a civil partnership.
• In 2023-24, married people headed 45% of leasehold-house households – more than double the 22% among flat leaseholders.

Ground Rent Costs

Ground rent is a modest bill for many leaseholders but a heavy one for some, and the gap between the average and the typical charge is wide. These figures show who pays, how much, and how bills vary by property type and region.

• In 2023-24, 77% of owner-occupier leaseholders paid ground rent – while 23% paid nothing.
• In 2023-24, 86% of leasehold-house owners paid ground rent – compared with 70% of flat leaseholders.
• In 2023-24, mean annual ground rent was £304, while the median was £120 – less than half the average.
• In 2023-24, mean ground rent was £343 for leasehold flats and £199 for houses – a £144 gap.
• In 2023-24, median ground rent was £160 for flats and £20 for houses – an eightfold gap.
• In 2023-24, mean ground rent ranged from £110 in the North West to £650 in the South West – nearly six times higher.
• In 2023-24, median ground rent ranged from £14 in the North West to £240 in London – about 17 times higher.
• Between 2018-19 and 2023-24, mean annual ground rent rose from £191 to £304 – a 59% increase.

Service Charge Costs

Service charges are the largest recurring cost of owning a leasehold flat, and they are rising faster than ground rent. The figures below combine what owner occupiers reported paying in 2023-24 with industry data on 2025 and 2026 charges.

• In 2023-24, 65% of owner-occupier leaseholders paid a service charge – rising to 88% among flat owners.
• In 2023-24, owner-occupier leaseholders reported a mean service charge of £1,720 a year and a median of £1,375.
• In 2023-24, leasehold-house owners reported a mean service charge of £881 a year – about half the £1,720 average across all paying owner-occupier leaseholders.
• In 2023-24, London flat owners reported service charges averaging £2,338 – £777 more than the £1,561 average in the rest of England.
• In 2023-24, 62% of leaseholders paying a service charge thought it was too high – only 34% considered it fair.
• In 2025, average flat service charges reached £2,405 a year, the first year above £200 a month – up 4.6% on 2024 and 33% on the £1,814 charged in 2020.
• In 2025, flat service charges averaged £2,074 for one bedroom, £2,463 for two and £3,146 for three – 52% more for a three-bed than a one-bed.
• In 2025, 37% of flats had service charges above 1% of property value – versus 29% five years earlier.
• For 2026, professionally managed estates budgeted an average of £2,880 per leaseholder – 6.3% above 2025 costs.

Leasehold Sales

Leasehold homes take longer to sell, achieve less of their asking price and fall through more often than freehold homes. These figures track each stage of the transaction, from first offer to exchange or collapse.

• In 2025, leasehold homes made up 22% of completions – down from 26% a decade earlier.
• In 2025, leasehold homes took 83 days to secure an accepted offer – 23 days longer than the 60 days for freehold homes.
• In 2025, leasehold sellers agreed an average of 94.2% of asking price – compared with 95.7% for freehold sellers.
• In April 2026, leasehold sales took 155 days from offer to exchange – 58 days longer than the 97 days for freehold.
• In 2025, 43% of agreed leasehold sales fell through – compared with 36% of freehold sales.
• In 2025, failed leasehold sales collapsed after 115 days on average – 30 days later than failed freehold sales.
• In 2025, 29% of flat sales that fell through collapsed after three months – compared with 19% for houses.

Lease Lengths

The years left on a lease affect a home’s value, its mortgageability and the cost of extending it. These figures show how much time remains on English leases and the rules that govern extensions.

• In 2023-24, 4.8 million leases were registered against just over 4 million leasehold households in England – roughly 1.2 leases per household.
• In 2023-24, leases had a mean of 480 years remaining – pulled up by very long 999-year terms.
• In 2023-24, 412,000 households lived in properties with 80 years or less left on the lease – the point where extension costs can rise sharply.
• In 2023-24, 204,000 owner-occupier households had 80 years or less left on their lease – almost half of the 412,000 households affected.
• In 2023-24, about 30% of leases had between 80 and 125 years remaining – the largest reported band.
• Since 31 January 2025, leaseholders no longer need to have owned their home for two years before claiming a statutory lease extension or buying the freehold.
• Under the current statutory route, a qualifying flat lease extension adds 90 years.

Complaints and Advice

Many leaseholders consider complaining about how their building is run, but few take it further. The data below covers what prompts complaints, how they are handled and where leaseholders turn for advice.

• In 2023-24, 24% of owner-occupier leaseholders considered making a complaint – about 435,000 households.
• In 2023-24, 34% of flat leaseholders considered complaining – nearly five times the 7% of leasehold-house owners.
• In 2023-24, 119,000 households that considered complaining decided not to – 27% of those who thought about it.
• In 2023-24, 61% of leaseholders who complained raised repairs – ahead of administration at 17% and antisocial behaviour at 15%.
• In 2023-24, 67% of leaseholders who complained were unhappy with the response – only 21% were fully satisfied.
• In 2023-24, 78% of dissatisfied complainants took the matter no further – while 13% approached a local councillor.
• In 2024-25, the national leasehold advisory service answered 27,493 enquiries – 24,207, or 88%, specifically about leasehold.
• In 2024-25, service charges accounted for 27% of leasehold enquiries – the largest single subject.
• In 2024-25, 1 in 10 direct enquiries concerned major works consultation – with 31% of those alleging the required process was not followed.

Building Safety

Unsafe cladding remains an unresolved cost and safety problem for leaseholders in blocks over 11 metres. These figures track how far remediation has progressed and which funding routes are moving fastest.

• By August 2026, 4,724 buildings over 11 metres were being monitored for remediation – against an estimated 5,900 to 7,400 buildings with unsafe cladding as of March 2026.
• By August 2026, 1,849 buildings had completed remediation and 722 had started – together 54% of monitored buildings.
• By August 2026, 2,153 buildings had not started remediation – 46% of monitored buildings.
• By August 2026, monitored buildings held about 250,000 dwellings – including 103,000, or 41%, in buildings where work had not started.
• By August 2026, 478 of 516 ACM-clad buildings had completed remediation – a 93% completion rate.
• By August 2026, 490 of 640 Building Safety Fund buildings had completed remediation – a 77% completion rate.
• By August 2026, 139 of 1,497 eligible Cladding Safety Scheme buildings had completed works – just 9%.
• By August 2026, local authorities had taken or started enforcement action against 929 buildings over 11 metres.

Reform Position

Leasehold law has changed in stages since 2022, with a further overhaul proposed in a 2026 draft bill. The figures below separate the rules already in force from those still at proposal stage.

• Since 30 June 2022, ground rent on most new long residential leases has been limited to one peppercorn – effectively £0.
• Since 1 April 2023, the peppercorn rule has also covered new retirement-home leases, after a nine-month transition.
• Breaches of the ground rent rules can attract financial penalties from £500 up to £30,000.
• Since 3 March 2025, buildings with up to 50% non-residential floor space can qualify for Right to Manage – up from 25%.
• On 27 January 2026, the draft reform bill proposed a £250 annual cap on existing ground rents, falling to a peppercorn after 40 years.
• The 2026 draft bill proposed cutting the consent needed for commonhold conversion to 50% of qualifying leaseholders – replacing unanimity.
• In 2024, property tribunals recorded 786 breach determinations – while forfeiture action can begin over unpaid sums as low as £350.
• Fewer than 20 developments have adopted commonhold in the 24 years since it became available in 2002.

2027 Outlook

The draft reform bill and the cladding programme will shape leaseholders’ costs well beyond 2027. These estimates show who stands to gain from reform and what remediation is expected to cost.

• 770,000 to 900,000 leaseholders pay more than £250 a year in ground rent and could benefit from the proposed cap immediately – including 490,000 to 590,000 in London and southern England.
• 3.8 million leasehold properties in England and Wales carry a ground-rent obligation and could benefit over the policy’s lifetime – including those already paying less than £250.
• The proposed cap is estimated to transfer £10.0 billion to £12.7 billion from freeholders to leaseholders over its 40-year transition.
• An estimated 30,000 to 40,000 new flats delivered each year in England and Wales could move away from leasehold once the proposed ban and commonhold framework take effect.
• Remediating unsafe external walls is estimated to cost £11.8 billion to £22.7 billion – with a central estimate of £15.1 billion.

Sources

1. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Leasehold Dwellings, 2024 to 2025, 2026.
2. House of Commons Library – Leasehold Housing in England: Statistics, 2025.
3. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – English Housing Survey 2023 to 2024: Leasehold Experience, updated 2026.
4. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Leasehold Term Remaining, 2023 to 2024 Factsheet, 2026.
5. Welsh Government – Research into the Sale and Use of Leaseholds in Wales, 2021.
6. Welsh Government – Help to Buy Wales Shared Equity Loan Scheme, April 2024 to March 2025.
7. UK Parliament – Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 and Explanatory Notes.
8. UK Statutory Instruments – Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 Commencement No. 2 Regulations, 2025.
9. UK Statutory Instruments – Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 Commencement No. 3 Regulations, 2025.
10. UK Government – Leasehold Reform Ground Rent Act 2022 Guidance, updated 2025.
11. UK Legislation – Leasehold Reform Ground Rent Act 2022.
12. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, 2026.
13. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Guide to the Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, 2026.
14. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Addressing Unregulated and Unaffordable Ground Rent, 2026.
15. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Moving to Commonhold Consultation, 2026.
16. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill Impact Assessment, 2026.
17. Regulatory Policy Committee – Opinion on the Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, 2026.
18. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Leasehold Toolkit for England, 2026.
19. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Leasehold Enfranchisement Valuation Rates Consultation, 2026.
20. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Quid Pro Quo Leases and the Ground Rent Cap Consultation, 2026.
21. The Property Institute – Service Charge Index, 2026.
22. Hamptons – Service Charge Index, 2026.
23. Propertymark – Leasehold: Still a Life Sentence?, 2026.
24. The Leasehold Advisory Service – Annual Report and Financial Statements 2024-25, 2025.
25. The Leasehold Advisory Service – Section 20 Consultation Insight Report, 2025.
26. Connells Group – Conveyancing Delays and Leasehold Transactions, 2026.
27. Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government – Building Safety Remediation Monthly Data, August 2026.
28. Law Commission – Commonhold Project and Reform Recommendations, current in 2026.
29. UK Government – The King’s Speech 2026 Background Briefing Notes.
30. HM Land Registry – Price Paid Data and Business Plan 2026+.