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PARTLY

As of 13 August 2026, AI can only partly compare freehold and leasehold properties.

This still needs a person who signs their name to it.

Can you do it?

15 minutesto a draft.

1 hourto something you’d act on.

Cost, all in£0

Skill neededchat-fluent

Who has to check ita professional

What the alternative costsNo sourced alternative price is provided.

If this goes wrong, you may choose a property without understanding its charges, restrictions or repair obligations and discover the problem after committing to the purchase.

What to actually do

  1. Hand it to a person

    The route this page recommends

    Someone with a licence or accountable authority has to sign this before it counts.

  2. Use a tool built for this

    Second choice

  3. Do it yourself

    The distant third

    A chat interface, chat-fluent skill, and roughly 1 hour until you can act on the result.

    How to actually do it

    1. Open the estate-agent particulars for both properties and save the asking price, tenure, address, council-tax information, stated charges and any details about shared areas.
    2. Gather the lease, leasehold information form, service-charge accounts, buildings-insurance information and details of planned major works for the leasehold property.
    3. Paste the documents and particulars into a chatbot with the supplied prompt, keeping the two properties clearly labelled and removing personal information.
    4. Ask the chatbot to produce the comparison table, a separate list of missing information and a list of questions for the estate agent, managing agent and seller.
    5. Compare every factual entry in the table against the original documents and mark anything that is absent, ambiguous or based only on an estate-agent description.
    6. Take the unresolved legal and financial points, the lease and the property papers to a UK conveyancing solicitor before making an offer or exchanging contracts.

    Prompt

    Compare these two UK properties, one freehold and one leasehold, using only the information I provide. Create a table covering tenure, purchase price, recurring charges, lease length and extension position, ground rent, service charge, buildings insurance, repairs and maintenance, alterations, subletting, pets, parking, shared areas, major works, restrictions, and any missing information. Separate confirmed facts from assumptions. Do not invent figures, legal rights or missing clauses. Flag every point that needs checking with the estate agent, managing agent, Land Registry information or a conveyancing solicitor. Explain which property may suit which type of buyer, but do not tell me which one to buy and do not give legal advice. State clearly that this is not professional advice. Here are the property details and documents:

Property A:
[PASTE DETAILS OR DOCUMENT TEXT]

Property B:
[PASTE DETAILS OR DOCUMENT TEXT]

    Open it prefilled in ChatGPT or Claude, or copy it into Gemini, which takes no prefill link.

What it gets wrong

  • AI cannot establish whether the documents supplied are complete or whether a seller has omitted a relevant paper.
  • AI cannot reliably judge the practical effect of unusual lease clauses, restrictions, easements or future repair obligations.
  • AI cannot confirm the accuracy of service-charge forecasts, planned major works or information supplied by an estate agent.
  • AI cannot carry responsibility for the purchase decision or correct a legal problem after exchange of contracts.

What caps this at PARTLY: legal accountability, verification cost and stakes of error.

How we scored this

Five axes, each scored nought to two by hand: ten means AI carries the task cleanly, and the thresholds that turn a total into YES, PARTLY or NO are published in the methodology. Each axis name links to its definition.

AxisScore (0–2)
Output2
Inputs1
Verification1
Liability1
Effort delta2
Total7 / 10

The methodology and its thresholds are published in full.

FAQ

Can AI compare freehold and leasehold properties?
Partly. It can turn the particulars and lease documents into a clear comparison of charges, restrictions, repairs and tenure, but a conveyancing solicitor must check clauses and missing information before you commit.
Can AI tell me whether freehold or leasehold is better?
It can explain the trade-offs for your circumstances, but it cannot make the decision safely from a short listing. Your budget, intended use, tolerance for charges and the exact lease terms all matter.
Can AI check a leasehold contract?
AI can summarise the wording and flag questions, but it cannot replace a legal review of the lease. This is not professional advice, and a serious concern should go to a conveyancing solicitor.
What should I ask about a leasehold property?
Ask for the lease length, ground rent, service-charge history, planned major works, insurance arrangements, repair responsibilities, restrictions and any disputes. Ask the managing agent or seller to confirm each answer in writing, then have the papers checked by your conveyancing solicitor.

Nearby answers

All Renting, buying & moving rulings

Assessed by gpt-5.6-luna (gpt-5.6-luna) on 2026-08-13, second-checked by an independent model. Wrong somewhere? Email [email protected] and it gets re-checked.

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