Cash buyer of leasehold flats
We buy leasehold flats direct for cash. If you are an executor selling an inherited flat and want a reliable, hassle-free sale, we can help. Request a free, no-obligation offer online, or call our friendly team.
When a flat was in the deceased's sole name, the sale cannot complete until the person dealing with the estate has a grant of probate. This is the court document confirming that the executor (the person named in the will to deal with the estate) has authority to sell. Where there is no will, the equivalent document is called letters of administration. In England and Wales, both are issued by HM Courts and Tribunals Service (HMCTS); Scotland and Northern Ireland have their own rules.
A flat owned jointly may not need probate at all. If the owners were joint tenants (a form of joint ownership where each owner's share passes to the other), the flat usually goes straight to the surviving owner. If they were tenants in common, the deceased's share passes under their will, so probate is usually still needed. Our guide to selling after the death of a co-owner covers that situation.
Before you can apply for probate, the estate has to be valued. That can take a few weeks for a simple estate or several months for a complicated one. If Inheritance Tax is due, some of it usually has to be paid first, and HMRC then sends a code you need for the application, usually within 20 working days. The tax on the flat itself can be paid in instalments and settled from the sale, so an estate with little spare cash is not stuck. After you apply, the grant usually arrives within 12 weeks, although applications that are queried take longer. Our guide to the steps to take when selling a probate flat covers what to do while you wait.
Until the flat is sold, its running costs are paid from the estate (the money, property and belongings left by the person who died). These might include service charges, ground rent, buildings insurance and the standing charges on gas and electricity. In England, a flat left empty since the death is exempt from council tax until probate is granted, and for up to six months after, as long as it stays empty and in the name of the person who died. Tell the council about the death so the exemption can be applied.
Check the buildings insurance too. For most flats this is a block policy arranged by the freeholder or managing agent, and the insurer may need to be told if the flat will be empty for longer than a set period, often 30 or 60 days.
Keep a note of every bill the estate pays for the flat, with the receipts. Executors have to be able to show the beneficiaries how the estate's money was spent, and these running costs are part of that record.
You do not have to wait for probate before talking to us. You can accept our offer and instruct a solicitor straight away, so the legal work for the sale of the flat can go ahead while the probate application is being processed.
However, two key stages of the sale have to wait until probate has been granted:
The money from the sale becomes part of the estate, and the executors pay the beneficiaries once any debts, tax and other estate matters have been settled.
Timing, condition and the lease can all slow a sale down.
A typical sale through an estate agent takes around five months from offer to completion, and leasehold flats often take longer. Probate adds its own wait on top. Some buyers pull out once they learn completion depends on a grant of probate, either because they cannot wait or because they do not want the uncertainty.
Many probate flats have not been updated in years. Buyers who see a dated interior often work out the cost of renovating, then push hard on price or pull out after their survey. Executors are often wary of spending estate money on improvements that may not come back in the sale price.
A short lease, a service charge dispute or a slow managing agent can hold up a sale or stop it altogether. Solicitors checking the title (the legal record of ownership) often find problems the family did not know about. Executors may know little about a flat they never lived in, so buyers often have less information to go on.
Executors have a legal duty to act in the interests of the estate and its beneficiaries, and that usually includes getting a fair price. We put our cash offer in writing and explain how we reached it, so you can share it with the other executors and anyone else involved in the decision.
Our offer is free and there is no obligation: we will not ask you to sign anything to tie you in. We are not an estate agent; we buy flats directly, with our own funds.
Where more than one executor is named on the grant of probate, all of them need to sign the sale contract and the transfer. It helps to agree early on which of you will be our main point of contact.
Selling a probate flat to us, step by step
Apply for probate as early as you can, as the sale cannot complete without the grant.
Get in touch
Tell us about the flat: we only need the basic details to start with. Your enquiry is confidential, free and without obligation.
Initial review
We check the lease, the title register and any known issues. Within 24 to 48 hours we give you an indicative figure or range.
Discussion
We talk through your timescale, who the executors are and any questions you may have. Family members often want different things: some would rather wait for the best price, while others need the money sooner. We are happy to answer questions from anyone involved in the decision, so everyone has the same information.
Property viewing
One visit, at a time that suits you, before we make our formal offer. Depending on the size of the flat, it usually takes no more than about 30 minutes, and one of our directors normally carries it out. There is no need to tidy up or clear anything: we buy the flat as it is.
Formal offer
We make our formal offer in writing. There is no rush to decide: take the time you need to talk it over with family and friends, the other executors or the beneficiaries.
Solicitors instructed
The probate application and the conveyancing run side by side. You instruct a conveyancing solicitor to handle the legal side of the sale. This is a separate job from applying for probate, although some firms do both. Your conveyancing solicitor and ours then follow the same process as any flat sale, including a review of the management pack (information from the managing agent about the building, service charges and any planned works).
As a professional property buyer, we can take a practical view on the issues that come up with leasehold flats. We have seen most of them before, and working through them is what we do every day.
Exchange and completion
Once the grant has been issued and the legal work is finished, we exchange contracts and the sale becomes legally binding. Completion follows soon after, or on a date that suits you.
Executors usually have three ways to sell a leasehold flat. Each has trade-offs, and the right one depends on what matters most to the estate: the highest price, a fixed completion date or the least effort.
You can accept an offer and instruct solicitors before you receive the grant of probate, and the legal work for the sale can run in parallel while you wait. Exchange normally waits for the grant, and completion cannot happen without it. The same applies where there is no will and the estate is waiting for letters of administration. Once the grant arrives, exchange and completion can often follow within days.
You do not need to clear the flat first. We can buy it in any state, including with the deceased's belongings still in place. If you do decide to clear anything from the flat, first check the will and whether any items need valuing for the estate.
This happens more often than people think. The executors (or administrators) who are dealing with the estate all have to agree to the sale and sign the paperwork; one cannot sell alone. Beneficiaries do not sign, but executors have to act in their interests, so it helps to keep them informed. We put our offer in writing so everyone can consider it.
We regularly buy probate flats with short leases. It is a common combination: an owner who lived in the flat for many years often had no reason to extend the lease. We buy the flat with the lease as it is, so there is no need for the executors to extend the lease before selling.
