Frequently Asked Questions

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.
Services Lease Extension

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

Services Lease Extension

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.

Services Lease Extension

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.

Services Lease Extension

  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.
Services Lease Extension

  1. Typically, professional fees (e.g. for legal and survey advice) for this process are lower.
  2. The process may provide you with a faster resolution.
  3. You have the option of obtaining terms that allow for increased ground rent in return for a lower premium.
Services Lease Extension

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 = £50*
  • Landlord’s solicitor (third party) legal fees (conveyancing) = £650 plus VAT (£780 total)
  • HomeGround administration fee (instructing solicitors, preparing documents for signature, updating records) = £250.00
  • Disbursements = normally minimal and typically in the region of £20.
  • Land Registry fee (where applicable) = £40 plus VAT

*Please note that the landlord offer price fee of £50 will be refunded on completion of your lease extension.

Services Lease Extension

As a legal owner of a leasehold property you may need permission from your landlord (usually called consent) before housing a pet at your property. HomeGround manages this process for the landlord.

The starting point should be to check your lease itself to see if there is a “no pet” restriction, or a requirement to obtain the landlords consent before a pet can be kept at the property. You can access and download a copy of your lease from your account on the customer portal for free. Alternatively, we can supply you with a duplicate copy of your lease.

If your lease states that you cannot house a pet at your property without the landlord’s consent, we strongly recommend that you apply prior to housing the pet to avoid any possible disappointment. Our online application form is easy and convenient to use once you have signed onto your account, you can simply apply and make the payment of our fee online.

Once we are in receipt of your application and our non-refundable assessment fee of £50.00 we will carry out our review which will involve:

  • checking your lease to see if you are permitted to house a pet at the property
  • reviewing the freehold and leasehold titles for any restriction preventing pets from being kept at the property
  • consult with the managing agents at the site to see if they have any objections to your request

Our response time is usually 3 – 5 working days to review your request.

We will then tell you whether we are able to grant consent and if we can, provide our licence formally recording the landlord’s consent to house a pet.

You can view, filter and search for FAQs as required and some direct links to FAQs are scattered throughout the site. This video is a general overview and, for best results, please view it on a tablet or desktop computer.

This video shows the functionality of the HomeGround home page, which is the landing page and most of the website can be entered from here. For best results, please view it on a tablet or desktop computer.