The Freehold Collective Arvostelua 

I recently called the freehold collective with a complex issue, regarding lease extension with an uncooperative management company.

I had an informative and reassuring phone conversation with Mike, who took the time to look over the company documents before emailing some concrete steps for me to take to resolve the issue.

I highly recommend the company to call, and should I face more problems, I am sure I will again!

Thank you

Have known Mike and John for many years they have won awards for there
Freehold work.
Trust them with confidence.

When our efforts to progress a large collective enfranchisement had reached a standstill as a consequence of poor professional advice, Mike Somekh was most willing to provide advice, encouragement, recommendations, and the offer of project management if we needed it. He is very experienced in collective enfranchisements and has a first hand grasp of leasehold and freehold legislation and how to deal with it from a practical standpoint. Our contact was most professional throughout.

I am extremely satisfied with my dealings with The Freehold Collective from the very start they have worked very hard not only for me but the others on our complex situation. They have kept me regularly updated with the progress.

Mike and John managed the process of 12 of us acquiring the freehold of our block from start to finish. They prepared us for what to expect at the planning stage and made sure the process was managed as efficiently as possible. I would highly recommend the Freehold collective and use them again.

Not very informative.

REVIEW of The Freehold Collective
12 June 2024

Review of The Freehold Collective
by a co-director of HHC Freehold Ltd

From the outset of trying to acquire the freehold for our 94 residential flats finished in 2021, I along with another owner who led the initiative, recognised the formidable challenges ahead. We searched for, and found a specialist company, The Freehold Collective, to help us navigate a way forwards that would safeguard the interests of the participating owners and their financial commitment.

At every stage The Freehold Collective CEO and his colleagues have been available 24/7 to answer questions we as the lead leaseholders have had. The Freehold Collective hosted free zoom meetings open to all owners and answered individual questions, provided paperwork illustrating advantages of freehold acquisition, procedural stages and some estimates for administrative and legal costs. The company helped us find a surveyor, a specialist solicitor and an accountant. We were also helped to find investors to cover a substantial shortfall and for a separate solicitor to represent them. We were free to make independent choices.

Since a 100 room hotel shares our site with the two apartment blocks and underground garage there have been numerous challenging issues. These have included a flawed original Section 5 Notice served by the freeholder’s staggeringly incompetent solicitors offering us a property in another location altogether, the freeholder’s inability to provide crucial documentation, the freeholder’s solicitors’ inexplicable inability to comprehend numerous aspects of the process, the freeholder going into administration a year and six months after the process had started in June 2022. All the warranties and indemnities previous agreed with the freeholder were withdrawn and the documentation had to be substantially revised. We have had to consider the changed market value of the property since June 2022 and what implications there may be from the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

This has been a complicated process in which engagement of the specialist company The Freehold Collective has been of enormous value to the two lead leaseholders, both who are unpaid volunteers. The ultimate benefits of freehold acquisition for participating owners are obvious such as the removal of ground rent and having the authority to make decisions about the management of our own property. The 2024 Act and secondary legislation may help to make freehold acquisition easier in the future but there remain many complexities to be resolved with implementation of the new laws, and then each property has its own elements which also have to be considered anyway.

Mike Paterson

The friendly face of freehold enfranchising freedom! Thanks very much for helping me understand where to start as I am (and remain) a complete novice.

I had a conversation with John, he is the senior account executive. My question was, I am in the process of buying a property which is a share of fee hold and has 119 years lease on it. Would there be a problem in extension. he very patiently explained everything to me. google doesnt have this kind of information and he kindly explained it to me. great service and if I need any further information I will definitely contact them.

This company is professional, know their stuff and are able to help. They don't lie to you to get your business, refreshingly they are honest about pitfalls and what you're actually facing. Clear, honest and concise information to make an informed decision by.

Well organised knowing the process of freehold purchasing. Advised, organised and communicated it very well especially under difficult circumstances of what was then the existing freeholder, not any more.

Excellent!

We have just finally completed on a collective enfranchisement to purchase the freehold of our building, with the enormous help of The Freehold Collective. It was a long ordeal with a very difficult landlord and I have no idea how I could have done it without The Freehold Collective. They guided us through all the pitfalls and are so knowledgeable about how the process works. They are also lovely people to deal with – very accessible, reliable and endlessly encouraging. They also save you money on solicitors' costs, which we all know can be exorbitant! I would highly recommend them to anyone going through the freehold process.

Mike was very informative and was helpful on more than one occasion.

Considering I was looking for impartial expert advice I was pleasantly surprised at the speed and the professional advice given not once but on multiple occasions.

Even though I had some guidance from the Leaseholder Advisory Service and other expert Leaseholder firms I always had conflicting information.

Upon speaking to Mike I was left feeling confident in what the right procedures and next steps would be adhering to our lease and forward actions required to comply with the law.

Overall friendly, impartial and expert advice, responsive over the festive given and at speed. I would highly recommend using Mike and their services again in the future.

You helped me when you didn’t need to. Very grateful

Mike and John work well as a team, very knowledgeable and switched on! Fast to reply.

These guys are brilliant. Helped us secure the freehold of our large block in London NW3 for an excellent price despite the numerous attempts to deter us and obstacles placed in our way. Highly recommended to all leaseholders looking for the best professional guidance when purchasing their freeholds.

Very knowledgeable team with great advice.

Mike was very friendly and informative. He spoke to me in-depth about my situation and ran through the various possibilities/outcomes which made me make an informed decision.

I have nothing but respect for the support, help, guidance and mentoring that The Freehold Collective give. When we started this process we had no real idea if we needed the help of a consultancy or not, but now we are 1/2 way through the process I can’t imagine not having them working with us, best decision we made. I 100% believe collective enfranchisement is the right and best thing to do, but it doesn’t come without many challenges along the way and that’s when the TFC are worth their weight in gold. They have a wealth of experience and Mike, who I have called many times, not only has the answers but seems genuinely pleased to hear from me! I wouldn’t hesitate in recommending this company and firmly believe that in the long run it’s cheaper to go through the process with them than without them!