Extending your lease
If you are a leasehold flat owner , you are currently entitled to extend your lease by 90 extra years (i.e. on top of your existing term)
The Government plan to extend this to a 990 year term in proposed changes to Leasehold law in due course ( announced January 2021 ) A statutory lease extension also sets your ground rent to zero. These types of valuations fall within the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (as amended).
The bulk of the Government changes planned will not come in until probably 2023 or later and so any flat owner who has a short lease now which is proving difficult to sell can today extend by 90 years at zero rent.
It remains uncertain as to whether the cost of a lease extension will actually reduce in the future as the proposals by the Law Commission still have to go though Parliament and it is likely that the proposals will be amended along the way. After all the Law Commissions report stated that they needed to ensure “sufficient compensation is paid to landlords to reflect their legitimate property interests”
It is impossible at this time therefore to know exactly what will become law.
Flat owners should double check their leases and ensure that if their lease is approaching 80 years remaining they should act immediately. When the lease term drops under 80 years, the premium will then include marriage value which will increase the premium – often the premium will double from above 80 years to just below.
“The service is superbly professional and reliable and, having benefited greatly from cost-effective and successful lease extensions in Brighton and Hertfordshire, I wouldn’t use anyone else.”
Mr R.S., Seaford
Lease valuation surveyor
If you are concerned about your lease – (we can always check the exact remaining term for you at Land Registry ) or are interested in extending, we can offer you clear and professional valuation advice including how to approach the Freeholder on an informal basis.
We also act for a substantial number of Freeholders and so if you have been approached by one of your flat owners for a lease extension please contact us for expert valuation advice to ensure you are receiving the right premium. The valuation basis constantly evolves as a result of market conditions and of precedent cases in the Tribunals.
