Marriage Value
The 80-year threshold in a lease extension premium
Marriage value is the extra worth a lease extension creates in a flat. Below 80 years remaining, the leaseholder and freeholder split that gain equally. The leaseholder's half is added to the premium payable to the freeholder. Marriage value exists in England and Wales only, and never arises above 80 years.
What This Means
Marriage value costs you nothing while this lease stays above 80 years. The Lease Extension Estimate splits the premium into ground rent loss, reversion loss and your half of marriage value. Crossing 80 years steps that premium up rather than letting it drift. The figure shown is modelled and carries a 15 per cent range either side; only a surveyor's valuation binds. This is one of the few things on this report that lenders and insurers price directly: most lenders want at least 85 years remaining, and 80 years still to run when the mortgage ends.
Practical Advice
- Commission a valuation from a surveyor who specialises in lease extensions before you serve any notice.
- Ask your conveyancer to confirm the exact unexpired term from the lease, not the agent's rounded figure.
- Instruct a solicitor to serve the formal lease extension notice before this lease drops below 80 years.
- Ask your broker whether the lender will lend on this lease as it stands, or require an extension first.
- Ask the seller whether they have already served an extension notice that could be assigned to you on completion.
Key Points
- Since 31 January 2025 there is no two-year ownership rule, so you can serve an extension notice as soon as the flat is registered in your name.
- The estimate assumes the standard deferment rates used since the Sportelli case: 4.75 per cent for houses and 5 per cent for flats.
- Relativity, the ratio of leasehold to freehold value, is read from published graphs. Prime central London values sit lower than the rest of the country at the same term.
Additional Information
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 would abolish marriage value and lengthen extensions to 990 years. Those provisions are not in force, the valuation consultation is outstanding, and freeholders are appealing. Scotland has no leasehold flats. Northern Ireland extends leases under separate legislation.