Lease extensions | Winston Solicitors UK Skip to main content

Lease extensions

Why do I need a lease extension?

Flats or maisonettes are normally held on long leases. Historically, many leases were granted for a period of 99 years or 125 years. Now, it is more usual for the lease period to be longer. If your lease has less than 85 years left to run, you should consider extending it.

Lease extension costs

Whilst extending a lease costs money, as you will need to pay an amount for the extension along with the landlord’s costs and your own costs. The costs of not extending a lease that has reduced to below 85 years is often significantly more due to:

  • Some lenders will not lend where the lease has less than 85 years left to run.
  • The shorter the lease, the more difficult it is to mortgage or sell. As the term of the lease reduces, it becomes less valuable

Extending the lease on a flat or other leasehold domestic property

There are three different ways of extending the lease:

  1. Statutory lease extension
    There is a statutory procedure for extending the lease period by 90 years. This involves serving a notice, obtain valuations and agreeing a premium (price). The tenant will have to pay the landlord’s legal costs and valuation fees. The lease provisions remain the same, except that the ground rent is reduced to a peppercorn, which means in practice that there is no ground rent to pay for the rest of the lease period.
  2. Non-statutory lease extension
    Some landlords will agree to extend the lease without being served with a statutory notice. They might still instruct valuers and they might agree to extend the lease period for more than 90 years. Some landlords might try to use this to their advantage by suggesting high rents and unrealistic rent review provisions. This should be resisted. Many lenders will not lend if the rent doubles periodically, increases too frequently, or rises above £250 per year if the property is outside London.
  3. Voluntary lease extension
    Where leases of other flats in the same development or other properties on the same estate have already been extended, the landlord might agree to extend the lease period for more than 90 years on similar terms to the lease extensions already granted, including the premium, at a fixed starting rent, increasing by a fixed amount every 25 years, and capped at £250 per year. The tenants will almost certainly have to pay the landlord’s legal costs. If the landlord agrees to go down this route, there should be no valuation fees.

If the freehold is owned by a management company in which all the tenants have shares, it should be possible to negotiate a voluntary lease term of 999 years with no ground rent, but with the other lease provisions remaining the same.

Lease extension advice from Solicitors

If the statutory procedure is adopted, it will normally be necessary to instruct solicitors to serve the notice. The solicitors may become involved in the negotiations and the procedure can be drawn out.

If the non-statutory procedure is adopted, the procedure can be drawn out if the landlord proposes unreasonable terms.

If the voluntary procedure is adopted, solicitors can be instructed when terms have been agreed. The wording of the documentation can be agreed quickly, sometimes within a few days if the landlord’s solicitors deal with matters promptly.

If the property is in mortgage, the lender will need to agree to the lease extension and a Deed of Substitution will need to be signed. This ensures that the lender has security over the extended lease.

The lease extension needs to be registered at the Land Registry. The Land Registry closes the existing leasehold title and opens a new leasehold title. It can take the Land Registry up to 6 months to complete the registration.

If you are thinking of extending your lease and would like to discuss the matter, please telephone Jeremy Conway on 0113 218 5427.

Client feedback

Great to deal with, quick replies to questions, would definitely recommend.
Megan
This team is really well organised, professional and thorough.My family have now used the Conveyancing service, both as Buyer and Seller, numerous times and have been extremely impressed and satisfied. They use simple and effective tools for great communication so you know the status at anytime and don't have to chase to find out. I would recommend Winston Solicitors without hesitation.
Marnie
I have just purchased my first property and used Winston Solicitors after being recommended by my Mortgage Advisor. I dealt with Samantha and Michelle who were amazing throughout the whole journey. They kept me informed of all steps throughout and responded to any queries in a timely manner. They also had an app where you could see progress and what the next steps would be which helped a lot for someone who didn’t know what to do. From putting my offer in to completed took around 8 weeks (no chain). Would highly recommend and I will definitely use them again in the future.
Mattheuw
Winston Solicitors were absolutely amazing! This was our second time moving house with Leasa and Julie and we genuinely cannot imagine the moving process without them! They were so friendly, kept us up to date throughout the whole process (without any legal jargon!) and kept communication open up and down the chain to ensure we had a quick and easy move (with 5 houses in the chain this was no mean feat!) Leasa and Julie went above and beyond, were always accessible via email and telephone, and there was never any need to “chase” because they were both so on top of everything! Words can’t express our gratitude for all the support they gave us in helping us move to our dream home. Thank you both so much!
Sophie
I'm really pleased with the work done so far,I'm proud and happy to use the Winston solicitors
Omonigho
Winston Solicitors have acted for me on many occasions for the conveyancing of property purchases and remortgages. I can't recommend Leasa Foster and her team enough. They make the transactions run very smoothly. They are clear with the information they provide to me, they are clear with the information they expect from me, and they are very thorough.
Sarah
Sidra is an exceptional solicitor who truly goes above and beyond! From the moment I instructed her, she was proactive, responsive, and incredibly knowledgeable. Her expertise and dedication ensured that my house purchase was handled with utmost care and efficiency. Sidra's professionalism, attention to detail, and friendly demeanor made a potentially stressful process remarkably smooth. I highly recommend Sidra to anyone in need of a reliable and skilled solicitor. Five stars isn't enough - she's truly outstanding!
Qasim
Your services is simply the best. I will always recommend you any day to my friends.
Omonigho
Contact Jeremy