Yelda Rashid — SRA-regulated solicitor
Lease extension: extending the lease on your flat
Under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, a qualifying leaseholder can require the landlord to grant a new lease: 90 years on top of whatever is left, at a peppercorn ground rent. It can also be negotiated informally with the landlord. Both routes are handled here, and you are advised which one is better for your lease before anything is served.
How it works
We keep you updated in writing at every step.
Qualification and valuation
Your lease and title are checked, you are advised on the route, and a valuer is instructed to put a figure on the premium.
Weeks 1–4
Section 42 notice
The formal notice is prepared and served on the landlord, setting out the premium offered. This is the date that fixes your valuation.
Weeks 4–6
Counter-notice and negotiation
The landlord responds and the premium is negotiated between the two valuers. Most matters settle here without a tribunal.
Months 2–5
New lease and registration
The new lease is agreed, completed and registered at HM Land Registry.
Months 5–9
What’s included
- Checking that you qualify and advising on the formal and informal routes
- Instructing and reviewing the valuation
- Preparing and serving the section 42 notice on the landlord
- Dealing with the counter-notice and negotiating the premium
- Drafting, completing and registering the new lease at HM Land Registry
FAQs
What about the 990-year lease extensions in the news?
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will give leaseholders the right to extend by 990 years at no ground rent, but that part of the Act is not yet in force; the government says it intends to bring it in as soon as possible. Until then, the statutory extension is 90 years on top of what is left, at a peppercorn ground rent. Some leases are already granted for 990 years by agreement. We will tell you which rules apply to your lease when you ask for a quote.
My lease has 82 years left. Should I wait and see?
No. At 80 years or less of unexpired term, marriage value becomes payable and the premium rises sharply, and the term keeps shortening while you decide. A lease at 82 years is the one case on this page where the answer is genuinely time-sensitive.
Do I have to have owned the flat for two years?
Not any more. That qualification was abolished on 31 January 2025. You can serve a section 42 notice from the day you become the registered owner.
My lease has under 80 years left — what does that mean?
At 80 years or less, the premium for a statutory lease extension includes “marriage value”: a share of the increase in your flat’s value that the new, longer lease creates. That usually makes the extension noticeably more expensive, and the term keeps shortening while you wait, so it is worth acting sooner. The premium itself depends on a valuation of your flat. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 will remove marriage value once that part of it is in force; it is not in force yet.
Ready when you are.
Answer a few questions. We'll email your quote, usually within one working day.
No retainer is created by this website or by sending an enquiry. Yelda acts for you only once a client care letter has been signed and returned.