Does it still make sense to buy a flat in London?
August 2025 - Financial Times
Buying a leasehold London flat seems out of fashion. With the Covid rush to houses – which offered more space and a garden – prices surged ahead of flats, which are often associated with high service charges, gnarly legislation, and legal hazards. Many are asking whether a London flat is still worth it?
But if you only need a London pied a terre several times a year, a flat still wins hands down for security, maintenance and a concierge. Even for those with big budgets, flats are the only affordable option for many of central London’s coolest neighbourhoods – excepting the odd mews house (in Marylebone, for example).
Meanwhile, plenty of those who bought houses post-Covid are having buyers’ remorse. One I spoke to recently is frustrated with his central London home – the maintenance costs are huge, with no other residents to split them with, and he worries the house is not secure when he is abroad, which is frequently. He’s planning to sell it and buy a flat, stumping up at least £1mn in stamp duty; it has been an expensive mistake.
Carrying out due diligence on flats has got harder, true. But if you choose carefully and do your research, there are real bargains to be found. Here are some tips on finding them.
Don’t celebrate the leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 quite yet: It should be a boost for London flats, promising to make lease extensions quicker, cheaper and more likely: But so much of it is being challenged in the courts (by leading London landowners including the Cadogan Estate and Grosvenor Estate) it will take years to resolve these cases. In the meantime, key pillars of the new act – including abolishing the marriage value calculation that ramps up the cost of shorter leases, caps on annual ground rent, and exempting leaseholders for paying freeholder’s costs – cannot be enforced.
Until the questions are settled, there’s a real risk of overpaying for a home you like with a short lease. There’s no point in snapping up a bargain flat in Knightsbridge only to find when you add on the cost of extending the lease, the resale value is less than you’ve spent. A good surveyor is vital when preparing your offer.
Service charges: A perennial concern. Distinguish genuine increases – we’re all paying more for our heating and maintenance – from unjustified ones, by investigating the last three years of accounts, which the managing agent will give you. Check early there is a reserve fund to cover future work, and do a thorough tour – look out for peeling paint, worn carpets, crumbling facades or anything that suggests the building isn’t being looked after. When you question the managing agents are they cagey or do you sense they are professional and competent?
Beware the refurb: After the Grenfell tragedy the 2022 Building Safety Act (BSA) was passed to protect occupants of tall buildings (over 11m or five stories – most Victorian terrace flats are shorter, so are fine). Its major teething problems are well documented (do a Google search to swat up).
Less publicised is the hazards to refurbishments of tired period flats in PCL, once so popular with buyers. So much of central London has these lovely tall mansion blocks, with flats calling out for renovation.
But if they’re over seven stories or 18 metres, they are a High Risk Building under the act, facing even tougher rules. Any significant work needs approval from a new Building Safety Regulator (BSR). It’s a criminal offence to start work without it but currently getting these approvals is extremely tricky.
Applications require highly specialised building safety experts who are in short supply, meaning you may have to wait to find one. The BSR is swamped with requests, and frequently asks for more information, adding to delays. One of our clients is seven months in, tens of thousands of pounds down in consultant and application fees, and still without approval. He hoped to have moved in by now; instead, he is in limbo paying a huge mortgage and service charge every month for a home he can’t live in.
Another headache for those planning renovations comes from leases with “absolute prohibition” against works – still common in Mayfair and some parts of Westminster.
Historically, landlords got round these, granting permission for significant alterations in exchange for a fee from the leaseholder. But after a landlord in Maida Vale was successfully sued[1] for this by another leaseholder in the block in 2020, many of the larger landlords in central London are simply saying no.
We still hear of buyers trying their luck – buying a flat then approaching their neighbours informally to persuade them. But this is a very risky strategy: absolutely do not buy a flat assuming you’ll succeed – especially in a big block with more neighbours to persuade.
Your solicitor will spot the absolute prohibition clause – ensure he has had a chance to, before spending £3,000 on a survey.
Two become one? Buying adjacent flats in a building to then combine them was once a great way to create a large high-end lateral apartment. But today, councils are desperate not to reduce the number of housing units. Since last July, ‘amalgamation’ has become nearly impossible in Kensington and Chelsea – Westminster has also cracked down on the practice (in both boroughs, we often see sellers and selling agents claiming it is still possible, so be on your guard).
The restrictions can be navigated, if you’re deemed to be improving the housing supply by creating a family-sized home, or if the units are substandard – badly ventilated, say, or lacking daylight. Where the property is listed and you’re returning it to its original plan, that could work, too. A good planning surveyor and planning consultant are worth their weight in gold. If you see an opportunity, employ them immediately[2]. (Meanwhile if you own adjoining properties with existing permission, or that are combined, your home could be more valuable if it’s in an HRB)[3].
Be brave, be prepared: In conclusion, don’t desert the classic London flat. They may well still be the only option to live where you want, and their current unpopularity means there are real bargains out there if you do your research. Hold your nerve, don’t over react and – most of all – be prepared.
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