Leasehold and shared ownership
Lease extension
Extending the lease of your flat or house, either through the formal statutory route or by agreement with your landlord.
This work depends on the details, so our team prepares a quote for you, usually within one working day.
Get advice from a specialist valuer before a notice is served. The notice must propose a premium, and the valuation date it fixes affects the price you pay.
Every year that passes shortens your lease, and as it gets shorter the property can become harder to sell or mortgage, and costs more to extend. Extending it adds years back and, on the formal route for flats, reduces the ground rent to a peppercorn, which in practice means nothing.
This service is for leaseholders of flats or houses who want to extend their lease, either by using their legal right to a new lease or by negotiating directly with the landlord. You usually need a long lease, which broadly means one originally granted for more than 21 years. Since 31 January 2025, you no longer need to have owned the property for two years before using the formal route.
Lease extensions vary a great deal in complexity and cost, so they get a tailored quote prepared by our team, usually within one working day. You will also need a specialist valuer to advise on the premium, which is the price you pay the landlord.
What is involved
The formal route for a flat, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, usually runs like this:
- Checking you qualify: your conveyancer reviews the lease and title and confirms who the landlord is, including any intermediate landlord.
- Valuation: a specialist surveyor advises on the premium, taking into account the remaining term, the ground rent and, under the current rules, marriage value if 80 years or less remain.
- Notice: your conveyancer serves a formal notice, often called a section 42 notice, proposing the premium and terms. Serving it fixes the date used for the valuation.
- Landlord's response: the landlord may ask for a deposit and to inspect the flat, and must reply with a counter-notice by the date in your notice, which has to be at least two months ahead.
- Negotiation: the valuers negotiate the premium. If they cannot, either side can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal in Wales) after two months, and must do so within six months of the counter-notice.
- Completion: the new lease is drafted, agreed and completed, you pay the premium and the landlord's reasonable costs, and the new lease is registered at HM Land Registry.
An informal extension follows a negotiated path instead, and your conveyancer checks the terms offered, such as the ground rent and any other changes to the lease, before you agree. For a house, a different Act gives a 50-year extension, and buying the freehold is often worth considering instead.
What the legal fee covers
- Checking your lease, title and eligibility
- Identifying the landlord and anyone else with an interest in the lease
- Preparing and serving the formal notice, or handling informal negotiations
- Reviewing the landlord's counter-notice and any deposit request
- Working with your valuer during negotiations
- Drafting or reviewing the new lease
- Completing the new lease and paying the premium
- Registering the new lease and dealing with your mortgage lender
Costs you may see on top
- The premium paid to the landlord, agreed or set by the tribunal
- Your specialist valuer's fee for advising on the premium
- The landlord's reasonable legal and valuation costs, which leaseholders usually pay on the formal route
- HM Land Registry fees for registering the new lease
- Tribunal fees and representation if the premium cannot be agreed
- Your lender's fees for consenting to the new lease
- Stamp Duty Land Tax if the premium is large enough to be taxable
What to have ready
- A copy of your lease and your title number, if you know it
- Contact details for the landlord or managing agent
- Your latest ground rent and service charge demands
- Your mortgage lender's details
- Any valuation advice you already have
- Whether you plan to sell soon, and any target dates
- Photo identification and proof of address
How long it takes
A formal lease extension often takes several months. Once your notice is served, the landlord has at least two months to respond, and negotiations can run for up to six months before a tribunal application is needed. If the premium is agreed reasonably quickly, completion often follows within a few weeks of agreement, while a case that goes to the tribunal can take considerably longer. An informal extension can be quicker if the landlord is cooperative, but there is no fixed timetable and the landlord does not have to agree.
Things to watch for
- Under the current rules the premium usually rises significantly once the lease has 80 years or less left, because of marriage value, so act before then if you can.
- The way premiums are worked out, and the length of the extension, are due to change. Changes are being brought in by the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024; your conveyancer will tell you what applies on the date of your transaction.
- Check informal offers carefully. A landlord may offer a quicker deal but keep or increase the ground rent on the existing term, or add new charges, which can affect the value and whether lenders will accept the lease.
- The formal process has strict deadlines. Missing one can mean your notice is treated as withdrawn, leaving you to pay the landlord's costs and wait before you can apply again.
- If you are selling, a formal notice can be served before you sell and passed to your buyer, so they benefit from the valuation date you have fixed.
Questions people ask
Should I use the formal route or negotiate informally?
The formal route gives you a legal right to a new lease with 90 years added and a peppercorn ground rent, with a tribunal to settle disagreements, but it has strict procedures and you pay the landlord's reasonable costs. An informal deal can be quicker and sometimes more affordable, but the landlord sets the terms and does not have to agree. The Leasehold Advisory Service explains both routes.
What is marriage value?
When a lease is extended, the flat becomes more valuable. Under the current rules, if the lease has 80 years or less left, the landlord is entitled to a share of that increase, which is called marriage value. It can add a large amount to the premium, which is why leaseholders are often advised to extend before the lease reaches 80 years. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 changes how premiums are worked out, and your conveyancer will tell you what applies when you make your claim.
Do I have to wait two years after buying?
Not any more. The requirement to have owned the lease for two years before using the formal route was removed on 31 January 2025 by the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024. You still need to qualify in other ways, for example by holding a long lease of a flat. Your conveyancer will check your lease and title.
Who pays the landlord's costs?
On the formal route, the leaseholder usually pays the landlord's reasonable legal and valuation costs as well as their own, and the landlord may ask for a deposit after your notice is served. On an informal extension, the landlord will usually ask you to cover its costs as part of the deal. Ask your conveyancer for an estimate so you can budget for both sides.
Who does the work
Your matter is handled by a law firm regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, the Council for Licensed Conveyancers or CILEx Regulation, or in Northern Ireland by a solicitor regulated by the Law Society of Northern Ireland. At the moment the law firms on our panel act for property in England and Wales, so for property in Northern Ireland we tell you whether a firm can act for you before we pass your details to anyone. The firm confirms who will work on your file, their experience and its terms before you instruct it. How we choose our firms.