Leasehold & Lease Length Explained
Understand lease length risk bands, how the 2024 leasehold reforms affect what you might pay to extend, and where to get reliable advice before you buy.
Is the lease long enough?
Enter the years remaining on the lease — we'll show which risk band it falls into and what that typically means for mortgage lending and saleability.
Lease length is one of the most overlooked risks in leasehold property purchases. A short lease doesn't just affect how long you can live there — it affects your mortgage options, your ability to sell, and the cost of extending. Leasehold law is also in the middle of major reform, which complicates any attempt to estimate a lease extension premium today.
The Critical Lease Length Thresholds
Not all short leases are equal. There are specific thresholds that trigger significant financial and legal consequences:
| Lease Length | Risk Level | What It Means |
|---|---|---|
| 90+ years | Low Risk | Standard lending, good saleability. No immediate action needed. |
| 80–90 years | Caution | Worth keeping an eye on. Under current rules, extension cost rises significantly once the lease drops below 80. |
| Under 80 years | High Risk | "Marriage value" currently applies — extension premium increases. Some lenders start to restrict at this band. |
| Under 70 years | Serious Risk | Most high-street lenders will not lend. Significantly harder to sell. |
| Under 60 years | Critical | Virtually unmortgageable. Extension effectively essential before any sale is possible. |
Under the Leasehold Reform Act 1993, when a lease drops below 80 years the freeholder is entitled to 50% of the "marriage value" — the increase in property value that results from extending. This can add thousands to the premium. This is changing under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 — see Section 3 below.
How Lease Extension Currently Works
Under the rules in force today, qualifying leaseholders have a statutory right to extend their lease. The key points are:
- Extension term: 90 additional years for flats, 50 for houses, added to the existing term.
- Ground rent: Reduced to a peppercorn (effectively zero) for the extended period.
- Qualification: Until 31 January 2025, a two-year ownership requirement applied. This has now been abolished — leaseholders can apply immediately on completion.
- Premium: A payment to the freeholder, calculated by a RICS-registered valuer using a statutory formula. Depends on lease length, ground rent, property value, and prescribed valuation rates.
- Costs on top: Legal and valuation fees, typically several thousand pounds, paid by the leaseholder.
- Timeframe: Typically 6–12 months from initial notice to completion.
If you're buying a property with a short lease, you can either ask the seller to start the extension before completion (and assign the benefit to you), or negotiate a price reduction. A RICS-registered leasehold valuer can tell you what the premium is likely to be in the current circumstances — that informs the right negotiating position.
Leasehold Reform 2024 — Why Premium Estimates Are Uncertain
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 received Royal Assent in May 2024 and introduces major changes to how extension premiums are calculated. However, most of these provisions are not yet in force. The government is still consulting on the prescribed valuation rates, and implementation has been pushed back — commentary from leasehold specialists suggests late 2026 at the earliest, and possibly later.
The Act's main provisions and their status as of April 2026:
Marriage value abolished
Will remove the 50% "marriage value" uplift for leases under 80 years. A major cost reduction for short-lease extensions, once it takes effect.
990-year extensions
Standard extension term will rise from 90 years (flats) / 50 years (houses) to 990 years, at peppercorn ground rent.
Ground rent cap at 0.1%
For the purposes of calculating extension premiums, ground rent will be capped at 0.1% of the property's freehold value.
2-year ownership rule scrapped
You no longer need to have owned the flat for two years before extending — you can serve notice immediately on completion.
Prescribed valuation rates
New deferment and capitalisation rates will be set by government regulation rather than negotiated. These drive the whole premium calculation.
Right to Manage expanded
The non-residential threshold in mixed-use buildings has been raised from 25% to 50%, allowing more leaseholders to qualify.
A reliable premium figure depends on the deferment rate, the capitalisation rate, and whether marriage value still applies — and under LFRA 2024, those rates are pending government regulation. Online calculators that produce a specific figure today are working with either outdated rules or assumed rates that may not survive implementation. For a figure you can rely on, instruct a RICS-registered leasehold valuer.
Ground Rent — The Other Leasehold Trap
Since the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022, ground rent on new leases is capped at a peppercorn. But older leases — particularly those sold between 2000 and 2020 — may have problematic ground rent clauses:
- Doubling clauses — ground rent doubles every 10 or 25 years, potentially reaching thousands per year over the life of the lease.
- RPI-linked clauses — ground rent rises with inflation; compounding over decades produces substantial increases.
- High starting ground rent — ground rent over £250/yr (£1,000 in London) can trigger the Housing Act 1988, technically making the lease an assured tenancy and causing mortgage lenders to decline.
Ask to see the actual lease document — not just a summary — and have a leasehold solicitor review any ground rent clause before you commit. This is not something to check after exchange.
Where to Get Reliable Advice
Leasehold is a specialist area and the reform environment makes reliable figures hard to come by without professional input. For serious decisions:
- Your conveyancing solicitor — should review the lease in detail as part of the conveyancing process and flag any problem clauses before exchange. Ask specifically about ground rent, lease length, service charges, and any restrictions.
- A RICS-registered leasehold valuer — for a reliable extension premium estimate under the current (or post-reform) rules. Essential if you're buying a property with a lease under 90 years.
- LEASE (Leasehold Advisory Service) — a free, government-funded advice service. Useful first port of call for leaseholders — they publish extensive guidance and offer one-off advice.
LEASE — The Leasehold Advisory Service
Government-funded, independent, and free. LEASE offers written guidance and a helpline covering lease extensions, enfranchisement, service charges, and every aspect of leaseholder rights.
Visit lease-advice.org →Buying a Leasehold Property?
A RICS Home Survey identifies structural defects and flags service charge liabilities before you commit. CJ Bloor covers the North West, West Yorkshire and West Midlands.
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CJ Bloor Property Consultants Limited is regulated by RICS. This page provides general educational information about leasehold and is not a substitute for specialist legal or valuation advice. Lease extension premium calculations are specialist work — always instruct a RICS-registered valuer and a leasehold solicitor before making decisions about a lease extension or leasehold purchase. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 is in the process of implementation; the information here reflects the position as at April 2026. Always check the current position at LEASE (lease-advice.org) before acting.
