buying

Right to manage, collective enfranchisement or lease extension: which route for a block of flats?

Right to manage, collective enfranchisement and lease extension compared for flat owners in England: what each gives and what changed in 2025.

4 min read
Last reviewed 4 November 2026
By Your Property Check team

Part 1 of 8

Three routes, three different problems

General information, not advice. Flat owners in England often mix up three separate rights. We read the GOV.UK pages named below on 4 November 2026, and the rules have been changing, so confirm the current position before acting.

Right to manage is about who runs the building.
Collective enfranchisement is about who owns the freehold.
A lease extension is about how long one flat's lease has left.

Part 2 of 8

How they compare

Route	What you get	Qualifying rule	Cost note
Right to manage	Leaseholders take over certain management responsibilities from the landlord, either managing themselves or paying a managing agent	No need to prove bad management. Mixed-use buildings can qualify with non-residential space up to 50 percent, up from 25 percent	In most circumstances leaseholders no longer pay the freeholder's legal fees on a claim
Collective enfranchisement	Leaseholders together buy the freehold, in effect a share of the freehold	GOV.UK points to Lease Advice for the rules, which we could not read, so we do not state them	Price depends on valuation; GOV.UK plans a 2026 consultation on valuation rates
Lease extension	A longer lease on one flat	The two-year ownership requirement was abolished in January 2025	Premium depends on valuation; we quote none

Part 3 of 8

Right to manage

GOV.UK describes it as letting leaseholders take over certain management responsibilities without having to prove bad management. You can manage yourselves or pay a managing agent. The Leasehold toolkit says improvements have been live since March 2025: mixed-use buildings can qualify if non-residential space is up to 50 percent of the building, up from 25 percent, and in most circumstances leaseholders no longer have to pay the freeholder's legal fees when making a claim. The freeholder still owns the building. You are taking over day-to-day control, not buying anything.

If you cannot use right to manage, GOV.UK describes a separate tribunal route to appoint a new manager. You must prove bad management, for example unreasonable service charges, and send the landlord a Section 22 notice first, giving them a chance to fix the problems.

GOV.UK's page does not list the numeric qualification rules for right to manage and sends readers to the Leasehold Advisory Service. We do not state a percentage of leaseholders or number of flats.

Part 4 of 8

Collective enfranchisement and the freehold

GOV.UK says you can ask your landlord to sell you the freehold at any time. For flats, you would need to buy a share of the freehold, and a landlord selling the freehold of a building with flats usually must first offer the leaseholders the chance to buy. Where a group buys, the owners often end up with the arrangement we describe in what a share of freehold means.

The toolkit says reforms to the amended enfranchisement scheme need technical flaws in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 fixed through primary legislation first, and they are not yet in force. It also says a consultation on valuation rates for freehold purchases, lease extensions and ground rent buy-outs is planned for 2026. We do not quote a price formula.

Part 5 of 8

Lease extension

The toolkit says the two-year ownership requirement for lease extension and freehold claims was abolished in January 2025, so a claim can start straight after buying a home. GOV.UK states that when a lease ends, ownership returns to the landlord, which is why lease length matters when you sell. The pages we read do not give the extension term, the premium or the process, so we do not state them. A short lease can narrow a buyer's mortgage choices, so check your lease early. Our guides on ground rent and how to check tenure are good starting points.

Part 6 of 8

Which is cheapest, and who must agree

We cannot say which is cheapest, because the GOV.UK pages give no prices and the right figure depends on your building and valuation. What we can say is how they differ in who needs to agree:

A lease extension is a claim by one leaseholder about their own flat.
Right to manage and collective enfranchisement involve the leaseholders acting together, and the rules on how many must take part are set out by the Leasehold Advisory Service and the legislation, not on the pages we read.
Right to manage does not need the freeholder to be at fault.

Part 7 of 8

How to choose

If the building is badly run but the lease is long, look at right to manage first.
If your lease is short and you own one flat, look at an extension.
If you want long-term control and a say over the lease terms, look at buying the freehold together.

These are not exclusive. Some blocks use right to manage first and enfranchise later. Get a surveyor and solicitor to cost your case.

Part 8 of 8

Buying or selling a flat

A buyer's solicitor will ask who manages the block, the lease length and any notices served. If you plan to sell soon, ask a solicitor whether a lease extension now is worth the cost, and set it against a range from our free house value check. Our checks before buying a house article lists related questions, and the freehold glossary entry gives the basics.

This page is general information, not advice.

Our take

Match the right to the problem you actually have

These are three different tools for three different problems: who runs the building, who owns the freehold, and how long one lease has left. The common mistake is to chase a freehold purchase when the real issue is poor management, or to ignore a short lease while pursuing something else.

Before you buy a flat, OfferCheck gives a plain-English risk report on the address, including tenure, with every figure sourced. It is a starting point, so still ask a solicitor about the lease length and any notices served.

Get OfferCheck

Our opinion, drawn from the facts on this page: not advice and not a forecast. We earn from OfferCheck reports and from introducing sellers to cash buyers, so weigh it with that in mind (see our disclosure). We are not authorised or regulated by the FCA.

Questions, answered

Frequently asked questions

What is the right to manage?

It lets leaseholders take over certain management responsibilities from the landlord without having to prove bad management. You can manage the building yourselves or pay a managing agent.

What is collective enfranchisement?

It is leaseholders buying the freehold of their building together. GOV.UK says that for a flat you would need to buy a share of the freehold.

Which is cheapest?

We cannot say, because the GOV.UK pages give no prices. Right to manage does not buy the freehold, but costs depend on your building and valuation. Get quotes from a solicitor and surveyor.

Who must agree to a right to manage claim?

Leaseholders act together, and qualification rules apply. GOV.UK refers readers to the Leasehold Advisory Service for the numbers, and says the landlord's fault does not need to be proved.

What changed in 2025 for leaseholders?

The Leasehold toolkit says the two-year ownership requirement for lease extension and freehold claims ended in January 2025, and right to manage improvements, including a 50 percent non-residential limit, have been live since March 2025.

Where this comes from

Sources

Last reviewed 4 November 2026 by the Your Property Check team. This page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. For your own situation, speak to a conveyancing solicitor or another qualified professional.