Do leasehold new-build houses resell for less than freehold ones?

Yes, materially. Houses bought new as leasehold in England & Wales between 2010 and 2017 and resold since 2019 achieved a median gain of 20%, against 23.2% for freehold new-build houses bought over the same years — a gap of 3.2 percentage points. The gap persists when comparing only within the same postcode districts.

How much more likely were leasehold house buyers to lose money?

8.3% of the leasehold group resold below the price they had paid, against 5.6% of the freehold group — roughly 48% more likely to take a nominal loss.

What was the leasehold new-build house scandal?

Through the mid-2010s, developers sold tens of thousands of ordinary houses — not flats — as leasehold, often with ground rents that doubled on a schedule, then sold the freeholds to investors. The share of new-build houses sold leasehold peaked around 15% nationally in 2016, concentrated in the North West, before public pressure and reform collapsed it to under 1%. This analysis measures what happened when those homes came back to market.

Research · Updated July 2026

The fleecehold discount

Between 2010 and 2017, tens of thousands of ordinary houses were sold new as leasehold. The scandal was widely reported; what those homes did to their owners' finances when resold never was. This is the first open-data measurement.

We tracked 14,500 houses bought new as leasehold in 2010–2017 and resold since 2019, against 107,982 freehold new-build houses bought over the same years. The leasehold group’s median resale gain was 20% — versus 23.2% for the freehold group. 8.3% of leasehold sellers took a nominal loss, against 5.6% of freehold sellers.

Median resale gain

+20% leasehold

+23.2% freehold

Resold at a loss

8.3% leasehold

5.6% freehold

Same-district control

Comparing only postcode districts containing both tenures: freehold +24.2% vs leasehold +19.6%. The gap is not a north-vs-south artefact.

Where the leasehold penalty bit hardest (median resale gain, bought new 2010–17)

TownLeaseholdFreehold

Melksham+7.7%+37.1%

South Ockendon+24.4%+52.6%

Hyde+33.1%+61%

Great Yarmouth+20.3%+38.6%

London+7.4%+24.9%

Coventry+16.7%+31.3%

Bootle+15.1%+28.9%

Manchester+38.6%+51.6%

Stockport+29.3%+41.7%

St Helens+10.9%+23.2%

Castleford+8.6%+20%

Birmingham+21.7%+31.3%

Cheltenham+15.9%+25.2%

Barnsley+15%+22.3%

Derby+11.6%+18.7%

Towns shown have at least 40 resales in each tenure group. Gains are nominal (not adjusted for inflation or improvements), which affects both groups equally.

Methodology & use

From HM Land Registry Price Paid Data we identified every house (detached, semi-detached or terraced — not flats) in England & Wales first sold as a new build between January 2010 and December 2017, and matched it to its next open-market sale from 2019 onwards. Each pair records the tenure recorded at the original purchase. We compare median resale growth and nominal-loss rates between the leasehold-at-purchase and freehold-at-purchase groups — nationally, within the same postcode districts (removing regional mix), and per town. Figures recompute as new sales register. Free to quote and republish with attribution to Housometer and a link; town-level cuts and comment available same-day via contact.

Source: HM Land Registry Price Paid Data (© Crown copyright), Open Government Licence v3.0. Analysis: Housometer, July 2026. See also how we work with data.

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