- For foreign buyers
- Built with local realtors
- Updated this quarter
Here's 99% of what you need to know before buying in London.
The 12 documents we wish we had before buying in London. What each area costs, what it rents for, how long it sits before it sells. Plus the things nobody writes down: what a short lease will cost you to fix, and why an accepted offer here means nothing until exchange.
The 12 documents to make a good real estate investment in London in 2026
Almost every flat in this city is a lease with a number of years left on it, and that number moves the price more than the kitchen does. These documents show you what is actually earned and paid. They are put together with agents, solicitors and owners we work with across London.
Questions
Do you list your sources?
Yes, on every table. Each one says where the figures came from and the month they were collected: Land Registry sold prices, published stamp duty and conveyancing rates, listing histories we track ourselves, service charge accounts shared with us by leaseholders, and what the agents we work with in each area are seeing week to week. Anything that is an estimate rather than a recorded number is labelled as one.
What is the leasehold thing everyone warns me about?
Most flats in London are not owned outright but held on a lease with a set number of years left. Once that drops towards eighty, extending it gets sharply more expensive, and it affects both what you can borrow and what you can sell for. It is the single biggest thing foreign buyers misjudge, which is why documents 09 and 12 are built around it.
Can a foreigner actually buy property here?
Yes, with no restriction on ownership and no permit. What differs is the tax: a non resident buying an additional home pays surcharges on top of the standard stamp duty, and rental income and any gain on sale are taxable here. Document 07 works through what that adds on real purchase prices.
Is it true an accepted offer means nothing?
Until contracts are exchanged, yes. Either side can walk away or a higher bidder can appear, and you may already have paid for searches and a survey by then. How people actually protect a deal in the weeks in between is in document 08.
What is a service charge and how bad can it get?
It is the annual bill for running the building, and it is where the unpleasant surprises live. A major works bill for a roof, a lift or cladding remediation can run into tens of thousands, and it is voted before you arrive but paid after. Documents 09 and 10 cover how to see it coming.
How long are the documents?
One to four pages each. They are tables and checklists rather than reports, so any one of them takes about ten minutes to read.
Which areas do you cover?
Twenty areas: Mayfair, Belgravia, Chelsea, Kensington, Marylebone, Fitzrovia, Islington, Hackney, Shoreditch, Bermondsey, Battersea and Nine Elms, Clapham, Balham, Fulham, Hammersmith, Ealing, Wimbledon, Canary Wharf, Stratford and Croydon. If you need somewhere or a specific development that is not in there, write to us and we will put it together for you at no extra cost.
I have a question about my own situation.
Ask us. If the answer is in the research we already have, we will send it. If it needs a call to someone in that area or a look at a specific building, we will do that too and come back to you, at no extra cost.
Is $99 a lot for a set of documents?
You are about to spend several hundred thousand pounds on a property, under a system of ownership that does not exist where you come from. A lease with too few years on it, a works bill you did not see coming, surcharges nobody mentioned: there are plenty of ways this gets expensive.
What format are they in, and when do I get them?
PDF, so you can read them on your phone, tablet or computer. The download link appears on screen straight after payment and a copy arrives by email.
How often are they updated?
Every quarter. Our contacts in London re-check the numbers before each release, so the version you download today is the one updated this quarter.
I have another question.
Ask us on the contact page and we will get back to you.
Three packs
The first pack has 4 documents, the second has 6, and the third has all 12 of our London research.
All the data and information in these documents was checked this year with agents, solicitors and owners working across London.