Lease Extension Solicitors.

We advise that you begin the process of extending your lease before it reaches 80 years or below.

Once your lease period falls below 80 years you become liable to pay “Marriage Value” when extending. This adds a significant cost to the extension process. 

Marriage Value means that when extending a lease below 80 years the landlord is entitled to 50% of the value the lease extension will add to the property. For instance, if the property were to gain £20,000 in value from the lease extension, £10,000 must be paid to the landlord during the renewal. 

If you’d like to talk to one of our leasehold experts about your lease renewal you can book an initial consultation by calling 0203 007 5500. 

If you fail to renew your lease before the end of its term the property will convert back to a freehold property automatically.

This means the landlord, will regain possession of the property and you may be asked to vacate the premises.

Depending on your terms and conditions, you may also be liable for any damages to the property.

In short, you don’t want your lease to expire.

There are two routes in which you can extend your lease.

The formal route will offer you more protection as it is governed by the Leasehold Reform Housing Urban Development Act, 1993 whereas the informal route may save you time and money.

The Informal Route

You can ask your freeholder at any point if they are interested in negotiating a lease extension. Note the freehold has no obligation to agree or even respond to your informal request.

If they do agree, you can negotiate. But, if you can’t agree on terms or price you will need to take the formal route of extending your lease.

The Formal Route

If you own your flat, you can extend your lease by law providing you meet the following requirements.

•  You must have owned your lease for the past two years,
• It must be a ‘long lease’ (a lease with an original term of more than 21 years when first granted)
• Your landlord is not a charity providing a flat as part of their work,
• It is not a business or commercial lease.

This route requires you and the freeholder to follow specific procedures and timescales set out by law. It can be complicated, and there is plenty of room for error. We highly recommend you consult with a solicitor before starting.

If you’d like to talk to one of our leasehold experts about your lease extension you can book an initial consultation by calling 0203 007 5500. 

The cost of extending a lease is directly tied to the value of the property. It also varies depending on the remaining term. 

 Extending a lease will add value to a leasehold property. Once a lease falls below 80 years, the landlord is entitled to Marriage Value when the leaseholder is extending their lease. This is what add a significant proportion of the cost to lease renewals. 

Marriage Value means that when extending a lease below 80 years the landlord is entitled to 50% of the value the lease extension will add to the property. For instance, if the property were to gain £25,000 in value from the lease extension, £12,500 must be paid to the landlord during the renewal. 

If you’d like to talk to one of our leasehold experts about your lease renewal you can book an initial consultation by calling 0203 007 5500. 

We are currently unable to offer legal aid in any capacity as we lack the necessary legal aid certificate. So, for the time being, we can only accept privately funded cases.