Extending your lease is one of the best-value things a London flat owner can do – and since the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 began phasing in, the process has been shifting in leaseholders’ favour. Here is how to extend a leasehold in practice.
Step 1: Check your lease length now
Find the unexpired term on your title (Land Registry, £7). The traditional danger line is 80 years – below it, “marriage value” historically made extensions sharply more expensive. Reform legislation is changing this, but valuation practice is in transition – which makes professional advice more valuable, not less.
Step 2: Get a lease extension valuation
Before approaching your freeholder, know what the premium should be. A lease extension valuation from an RICS Registered Valuer establishes your negotiating range – typically a few hundred pounds that repays itself many times over in the negotiation.
Step 3: Choose your route
- Informal deal with the freeholder – faster and flexible, but no statutory protection and terms can be worse than they look (watch ground rent).
- Statutory route – serve a Section 42 notice: the freeholder must extend by 90 years at a peppercorn ground rent, with disputes settled by the tribunal. Slower, but protected.
Step 4: Negotiate – with evidence
The freeholder’s counter-offer is an opening position, not a verdict. Your valuer negotiates premium and terms; unresolved cases go to the First-tier Tribunal, where the same valuation evidence decides the outcome.
How long and how much?
Informal deals: weeks to months. Statutory: typically 6–12 months. Premiums vary enormously with lease length and flat value – which is why step 2 comes before any offer.
Lease under 90 years? Start with the valuation. Call 020 4579 8270 or get a fixed-fee lease extension valuation anywhere in London. General guidance – reform provisions are phasing in; take current advice before serving notice.