Residential Lease Extensions FAQs Part 1

Q. Why would I want to extend my lease?

A. If your lease term (the amount of time left on the lease) dips below 80 years, a lot of lenders will not lend money to prospective purchasers.

Therefore if you are thinking of selling in the near future, you may want to approach the landlord about agreeing a lease extension.

Even if you are not selling, you may want to consider making the approach sooner rather than later. This is because for every year you wait, the price of the extension usually increases.

Q. How do I know how much I am going to have to pay for the extension?

A. This depends on which method you use. You can approach your landlord and agree a price, or you can get the price agreed by using the statutory route to extend your lease.

To get an idea of what you may have to pay initially, there are various online calculators which you can use. One useful site is The Leasehold Advisory Service. You will need some basic details about your lease to use these such as current rent, lease dates and ground rent.

If you approach the landlord they may give you a few different options to consider. You may pay more now but less in ground rent or vice versa.

If you are not happy with this figure or want to use the statutory (legal) route to extend you lease, you will need to get a valuation. Valuations need to be undertaken by specialist valuers because the calculation itself is fairly complicated.

You then make an offer to the landlord and if they agree, the process moves forward. If they do not, they can get another valuation and if agreement still is not reached, you can ask the Lands Tribunal to make a decision for you.

Emsleys Solicitors can assist you with all aspects of lease extensions. Contact Angela Macready on 0113 201 4900 for a free no obligation consultation.

Next time we will consider the question: Should I extend using the statutory route or by agreement with my landlord?