This is a buyer’s market in prime London, and a tax change made it. Around 65% of super-prime sellers in 2025 were non-doms relocating abroad, the homes coming to market are larger than they were, and values are forecast to soften a further 2–3% through 2026. What you still have to get right sits above and below your flat: the building safety position, and the service charge.
Supply of trophy stock is unusually high, vendors have repriced, and values are forecast to soften a further 2 to 3 per cent through 2026. A seller who is leaving the country has a deadline you do not.
A penthouse sits at the top of a tall building, which puts you inside the building safety regime. Qualifying lease status is fixed as at 14 February 2022, and you inherit it — so the deed of certificate is the first document to ask for.
On prime new-build it is usually the largest recurring cost after the mortgage and the least examined number in the transaction. We ask for three years of accounts and the sinking fund position, not the current estimate.
Our fee is paid by the seller. What that buys you is somebody reading the building’s papers as carefully as the flat’s.
Areas, budget, whether it is a main residence, a second home or an investment, and whether the purchase is personal or corporate. That last answer changes the tax position materially and it changes which properties make sense.
Not just the flat. Deed of certificate, fire risk assessment, external wall survey, remediation programme, three years of service charge accounts, sinking fund and section 20 history.
In this market that is worth real money. Comparable sold evidence for the building rather than the postcode, and a clear view of what the service charge and any remediation exposure do to the price you should be paying.
Around 65 per cent of super-prime sellers in 2025 were non-doms relocating to lower-tax jurisdictions — Dubai, Abu Dhabi, Milan, Tuscany, Monaco and Geneva — following the abolition of the non-dom regime. That put an unusual volume of trophy stock onto the market: the homes brought to market have been larger than in previous years, while deal volumes have declined only modestly.
Beauchamp Estates forecasts that super-prime values may soften by a further two to three per cent during 2026, particularly in oversupplied areas, while stabilising for the best addresses. The buyer profile has shifted from tax-driven residency toward lifestyle and capital preservation, with Middle Eastern, Chinese, American and Turkish buyers most active. Belgravia and Knightsbridge have regained momentum following vendor repricing.
A penthouse is by definition at the top of a tall building, which places you inside the building safety regime — relevant buildings are at least 11 metres or five storeys. This is the single most consequential piece of diligence on a purchase of this kind, and it is about the block rather than your flat.
Qualifying lease status is fixed by reference to 14 February 2022 and the circumstances at that date. A buyer inherits the position rather than creating a fresh one, which cuts both ways: a qualifying lease carries its protections to you, and a lease that does not qualify will not start qualifying because you have bought it.
Where a lease qualifies, cladding remediation costs cannot be passed to the leaseholder, and non-cladding contributions are capped and spread over ten years, with costs paid since 28 June 2017 counting toward the cap. There is a nil cap where the property was valued below £325,000 in Greater London. The caps rise with property value, so on a high-value flat the protected exposure is considerably higher than the headline figures usually quoted — and a lease that is not qualifying has no cap at all.
On a prime new-build the service charge is usually the largest recurring cost after the mortgage, and it is routinely the least examined figure in the transaction. Ask for three years of accounts rather than the current estimate, because an estimate in a building’s first years is a marketing document.
Then ask what the sinking fund holds and what it is earmarked for, and what has been consulted on under section 20 of the Landlord and Tenant Act 1985 — both completed and pending. Concierge provision, plant, lifts, pools and gyms in prime buildings are expensive to run and their replacement cycles are shorter than buyers assume. A building with a thin sinking fund and ageing plant is a series of future demands with your name on them.
None of that is tax advice and we do not give it. It is the list to put in front of the person who does, before you offer rather than after — because on a purchase at this level the difference between holding structures is frequently larger than the negotiation.
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 removed the two-year ownership requirement before a leaseholder can extend a lease or take part in collective enfranchisement, with effect from 31 January 2025. You no longer have to own the flat for two years first, which materially changes how a short lease should be priced into an offer.
Check the unexpired term, the ground rent and any review mechanism. A short lease on an otherwise excellent penthouse is a price adjustment rather than a reason to walk away — but it has to be quantified before you offer, not discovered afterwards.
For a buyer, it is the most favourable position in some years. Around 65 per cent of super-prime sellers in 2025 were non-doms relocating abroad, which put an unusual volume of large, good-quality stock on the market, and values are forecast to soften a further two to three per cent through 2026 in oversupplied areas. Demand has not collapsed — it has changed character, from tax-driven residency to lifestyle and capital preservation. Treat it as a window rather than a permanent condition.
It determines whether the building safety cost protections apply to your flat. Status is fixed by reference to 14 February 2022 and the circumstances at that date, and you inherit it when you buy — a non-qualifying lease does not become qualifying because it changes hands. Where a lease qualifies, cladding remediation cannot be charged to you and non-cladding contributions are capped and spread over ten years. Where it does not, there is no cap. Ask for the leaseholder deed of certificate before you offer.
Three years of accounts rather than the current estimate, the sinking fund balance and what it is earmarked for, and every section 20 consultation both completed and pending. In a prime building with concierge, plant, lifts and leisure facilities, the service charge is usually the largest recurring cost after the mortgage, and a thin sinking fund with ageing plant is simply a queue of future demands.
No. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 removed the two-year ownership requirement with effect from 31 January 2025, so you can extend or participate in collective enfranchisement without holding the flat first. That changes how a short lease should be priced into an offer, and usually in the buyer’s favour.
No. Our fee comes from the seller. What that buys you is someone reading the building’s papers — the deed of certificate, the remediation position and three years of service charge accounts — with the same care as the flat’s particulars, and telling you when a beautiful apartment sits in a block with a problem.
