What does it cost?

The cost for extending your lease depends upon the value of the property and how long is remaining on the lease. The impact on value increases as the lease gets shorter.

However, the value of your property usually goes down more significantly if the lease has less than 80 years left and the cost to extend your lease goes up significantly.

If your lease has 80 or more years unexpired, you will have to compensate the landlord for:

• the loss of the ground rent remaining on your current lease.

• the loss of the potential right to receive back the property at the end of the current lease.

• the loss in any development or other value that is reduced due to the extension of the lease.

If your lease has less than 80 years unexpired, you will, in addition, need to pay the landlord a share (usually 50%) of the value that would be added to your property by extending the lease

For leases of 80 years or more, the median cost is typically £4,000-6,000 (although it can be more for higher-value properties). This depends on the value and condition of your property and the length of the lease remaining.

There will in addition be legal and valuation fees to pay, and this varies depending on your Landlord. Lease extensions are usually exempt from Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT).

Mortgagees are often willing to allow borrowers to add these costs to their mortgage since, invariably, it improves the value of the property.