Lease Extensions Explained

The cost depends on three main factors: how many years remain on your lease, your flat's current market value and how much ground rent you pay.

You usually pay three main costs:

• Your professional fees (valuation, negotiation and legal work)
• The freeholder's fees (which have to be reasonable)
• The premium, which is the payment to actually extend your lease

Most lease extensions cost between a few thousand and several tens of thousands of pounds. With Zero Down Lease, our Guaranteed Price gives you one fixed amount covering everything. No surprises, no hidden charges.

We make lease extensions simple, clear and affordable. Most people need three separate companies to extend their lease. Not with us.

Our Guaranteed Price is one capped amount that includes valuation, legal work and the premium payment to your freeholder. If the final cost ends up higher than expected, we cover the difference. If it ends up lower, we share the savings with you.

You get complete peace of mind from day one. One price, one point of contact, one straightforward process. You can even pay for it once it is all done with our lease extension finance.

Most leaseholders have a legal right to extend their lease under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993.

You are usually eligible if:

• The original lease was for more than 21 years,
• The property is a flat or maisonette, and
• You are not in breach of your lease (for example, you do not owe money or have not made unapproved changes).

The two-year ownership requirement has been removed under recent reforms, so you can now extend as soon as you complete your purchase.

If you're unsure whether you qualify, we can check your lease and confirm your eligibility for free.

The premium is what you pay your freeholder to extend your lease. It's calculated using a formula set out in legislation and based on:

• How many years remain on your lease
• Your flat's current market value
• Your ground rent and how it changes
• Whether your lease is above or below 80 years (if below, Marriage Value applies)

A professional RICS-certified valuer determines the premium using the legal formula. This valuation forms the foundation for negotiations with your freeholder. Our valuers have saved clients over £1.5 million on premiums by ensuring robust, well-evidenced valuations.

Yes, having a mortgage doesn't prevent you from extending your lease.

For a statutory (formal) lease extension, you don't need your lender's permission to proceed. The process is protected by law.

For an informal extension, you will need a document from your lender called a Deed of Substituted Security. This confirms the mortgage will transfer to your new lease. This can add time and cost to the process.

This is one of the most common barriers leaseholders face. You know you need to extend, but finding tens of thousands of pounds isn't straightforward.

Zero Down Lease offers a solution: extend now and pay later. Our financing option allows you to complete your lease extension and pay us back when you sell or remortgage your property.

This breaks the "chicken and egg" problem where you can't sell because of a short lease but can't afford to extend because you haven't sold. Subject to eligibility, you can extend without the large upfront cost.

Your deposit to start the process with us covers:

• All of your professional fees (legal / negotiation etc) needed to start the lease extension
• Payment towards any payments requested by the landlord before the lease extension completes

This allows the process to start without you paying the full amount upfront. You know exactly what you're paying from day one, with no unexpected costs appearing later in the process.

Most lease extensions take between six and nine months. The timeline depends on how quickly your freeholder responds and how negotiations progress.

For statutory lease extensions, there's a legal framework with set deadlines:

• Your freeholder has two months to respond to your Section 42 notice
• You then have up to six months to negotiate before either party can apply to the First-tier Tribunal
• The entire process has a maximum of 12 months from serving notice (unless we need to go to Court / Tribunal).

Your dedicated case manager keeps you informed at every stage. No chasing, no wondering what's happening.

Unresponsive freeholders are frustrating but not uncommon. If your freeholder doesn't reply, as part of our process we will do lots of research.

They might be:

• An absent landlord with no forwarding address
• A dissolved company
• An estate in probate
• Simply ignoring correspondence

Once we understand the issue, we take the appropriate legal steps. This might include tracing the freeholder, applying to the court for a vesting order or using the statutory process to force a response.

We've handled these situations many times. No matter what happens a lease extension is a statutory right – a difficult freeholder won't stop your lease extension.

Yes, you can negotiate directly with your freeholder outside the statutory process. However, we rarely recommend it.

An informal lease extension might look good on paper, but when you dig into it, you often discover the same hidden traps. Most freeholders are investors whose sole goal is to maximise their return at your expense.

Informal deals frequently include:

• Offering significantly less than the additional 90 years you'd normally get
• Changes to the lease which become permanent which can cost you thousands
• Keep the existing ground rent in place to maximise their income

A statutory lease extension is the "gold standard." It guarantees 90 years, reduces ground rent to zero and only limited changes to the lease can be made. The question to ask yourself is: "Why would a freeholder offer me a better deal than they're legally required to?"

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) only applies if your premium exceeds certain thresholds.

You will pay Stamp Duty if:

• The premium exceeds £125,000 for a single property
• The premium exceeds £40,000 if you already own other properties (additional property surcharge applies)

Most lease extensions fall below these thresholds, so SDLT often doesn't apply. We'll confirm whether it affects your situation as part of your Valuation. It is worth noting a Stamp Duty Return is always required if the premium is above £40,000.

Often yes, though it depends on your circumstances.

If your lease still has plenty of years remaining and your ground rent isn't excessive, and your buyer / their lenders would proceed with its current lease then you are in a good position as we can transfer our Guaranteed Price over to your buyer as part of your sale.

If not, trying to both sell a property and extend the lease at the same time is more complex. It's like trying to land two planes on a runway at the same time. The buyer's lender will have their own requirements, and timing becomes critical.

If you are looking to remortgage you might find yourself in a "chicken-and-egg" situation where your lender will not release the funds until the lease extension is complete, but without the remortgage you can't pay for the lease extension.

We can advise on the best approach for your situation. In nearly all cases, completing the extension first makes the sale smoother and more valuable. This is why we offer lease extension financing to help you extend now, pay later.

Disagreements over the premium are common. Freeholders typically want to charge more than the lease is worth extending. That's where our expert negotiators come in.

Our RICS valuers and SRA-regulated solicitors handle the negotiations on your behalf, backed by robust valuation evidence.

If you still cannot reach agreement, statutory lease extensions can be determined by the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). The Tribunal examines both valuations and sets a fair premium based on the legal formula.

This does unfortunately add significant time and cost to the process, but any cost of Court and/or Tribunal are included as part of our Guaranteed Price.

Getting started takes less than a minute.

1. Request your free lease report: Register on our website and we'll pull your lease details from HM Land Registry
2. Review your personalised report: See your lease length, ground rent, landlord details and estimated extension cost
3. Book a free consultation: Speak with our ALEP-accredited team about your options (no obligation, no pressure)
4. Get your Guaranteed Price: We conduct a full RICS valuation and confirm your price and check your eligibility for finance
5. Extend with confidence: We handle everything from negotiation to HM Land Registry registration

You'll know exactly what you're paying from the start. No large upfront costs, no surprises along the way.