If your lease is getting shorter, whether you’ve just noticed it on a mortgage report or a buyer’s solicitor has flagged it, sorting it out sooner rather than later almost always works out better and cheaper. Our lease extension solicitors in Reading advise leaseholders on extending straightforwardly with a cooperative landlord, and can point you in the right direction for the formal statutory route where that’s what your situation needs.
A lease is a fixed-term right to occupy a property, and its value to you, and to mortgage lenders, falls as the term remaining gets shorter. Most lenders become cautious below around 80-85 years remaining, and a lease with fewer than 80 years remaining currently attracts an additional cost, called marriage value, when you come to extend it.
This is why lease length so often surfaces as a problem at exactly the wrong moment, when you’re trying to sell, or your buyer’s lender raises it during their mortgage application. Extending well before you need to sell, rather than reactively, almost always gives you a better outcome.
Where your freeholder or landlord is cooperative, a lease extension can sometimes be agreed directly and informally, without going through the formal statutory process. This can be quicker, but it also means the statutory protections, particularly around price, don’t automatically apply, so the terms need careful review to make sure they’re genuinely fair before you commit.
Under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, most leaseholders of flats have a statutory right to a 90-year lease extension at a peppercorn (zero) ground rent, provided they meet other qualifying conditions.
The statutory process gives you a guaranteed right and a structured valuation method, but it is more formal, and can end up before the First-tier Tribunal if you and your landlord can’t agree a price. Where a case looks like it will need this route, particularly if a landlord is uncooperative or a Tribunal application becomes necessary, our lease extensions and enfranchisement page and specialist team are the right next step, and we will tell you honestly and early if that’s where your case is heading.
Whichever route applies, the broad shape of a lease extension is similar.
We advise leaseholders on lease extensions across Reading, Berkshire and the wider Thames Valley, as well as clients further afield across England and Wales, from our office at 1 London Street in central Reading.
Our residential conveyancing team is accredited under the Law Society’s Conveyancing Quality Scheme (CQS), and the wider firm is top ranked in Chambers and Partners and The Legal 500. That combination of sector accreditation and firm-wide recognition means you get specialist knowledge backed by real depth.
The earlier you start, the more options you have, particularly if your lease is approaching the 80-year mark. Call us on 0118 951 6200, or get in touch via our online enquiry form.
How much does a lease extension cost?
The premium depends on your lease’s remaining term, the ground rent, and the property’s value, and is calculated by a specialist valuer. Leases below 80 years cost more to extend because of marriage value, which is a further reason not to leave it too late.
Do I have a legal right to extend my lease?
Most leaseholders of flats have a statutory right to a 90-year extension at a peppercorn ground rent under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, provided meet other qualifying conditions.
Should I wait for the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 before extending?
We would generally advise against waiting if your lease has fewer than 80 years remaining, since the Act’s marriage value abolition is not yet in force, has no confirmed commencement date, and your lease keeps depreciating, and getting more expensive to extend, in the meantime.
How long does a lease extension take?
An informally agreed extension with a cooperative landlord can sometimes complete in a few months. The formal statutory process typically takes longer, often 6 months or more, particularly if terms are contested.
Will extending my lease affect my mortgage?
It shouldn’t cause problems, and can help: a longer lease is generally easier to mortgage and to sell. If you need to borrow to fund the premium, this can sometimes be added to your existing mortgage, which we can help you understand alongside your lender.
What is marriage value?
Marriage value is an additional sum payable, on top of the standard premium, when a lease has fewer than 80 years remaining, reflecting the increase in combined value once the lease and freehold are ‘married’ together through the extension. It is currently still payable, though the 2024 Act will eventually abolish it once in force.