Editor's note: This brief was summarised by The Property AI Newsroom from a report by The Negotiator. Read the original article for full details.
Leasehold flat prices slide 2.27% while freehold houses rise
Leasehold flats are the only property type in Britain losing value, falling 2.27% year-on-year to an average of £216,246, according to analysis of Land Registry data up to June 2026. Freehold houses continue to climb, with semi-detached homes leading the market at £285,618 following a 3.16% annual increase.
The analysis, conducted by SAM Conveyancing, shows a widening divide in the housing market: flat values have depreciated 1.56% over a five-year period while the rest of the market enjoys double-digit equity growth. Almost nine in ten leasehold flats are sitting on the market for more than six months.
Legal and financial pressures cited
Andrew Boast, Chief Executive of SAM Conveyancing, warns that the depreciation of flats is a direct consequence of mounting legal, legislative and financial pressures on leaseholders. He says the fall in value across the leasehold sector is mirrored exactly by the rise in headaches for owners and prospective buyers.
According to Boast, transactions are stalling on a daily basis because of delayed leasehold reforms and the complexity of Building Safety Act compliance, ground rent clauses, lease terms and mortgagee protection clauses. Buyers are no longer just looking at the asking price, he notes, but are actively factoring in legal risks and future liabilities.
Lending criteria squeezing the flat market
Boast also suggests that tightened lending criteria has severely impacted the flat market, making conveyancing more complex than ever. Lenders are heavily scrutinising ground rent terms and insisting on strict mortgagee protection clauses, he says.
Combined with aggressive freeholder controls, escalating service charges and unresolved cladding liabilities, many flats are becoming borderline unmortgageable without significant legal remediation, prompting buyers to pivot toward the security and autonomy of a freehold house.
What this means for agents
For letting agents and inventory clerks, the findings underline the growing importance of lease documentation in transactions. With sales stalling over lease terms, ground rent clauses and Building Safety Act compliance, accurate and thorough leasehold records and inventories are increasingly central to keeping deals moving.
The research was published on 14 September 2026.
Source: The Negotiator