Short Lease
Fewer than 80 years left to run
Leasehold homes in England and Wales with fewer than 80 years remaining are treated as short leases. The 80-year mark is a valuation threshold rather than a legal cliff edge, and the lease runs on regardless. Long residential leases in Scotland were converted to outright ownership, so the term does not arise there. Northern Ireland runs its own enfranchisement framework.
What This Means
The lease term does not touch how you live here. It is a valuation and financing issue. Below 80 years the extension premium picks up marriage value, half the uplift that extending creates. The bill jumps at that point, and climbs every year the term shortens. The buyer pool narrows too, so the property tends to sell at a discount reflecting the extension cost. This is one of the few things on this report that lenders and insurers price directly: most lenders will not lend against a lease under about 70 years without an agreed extension.
Practical Advice
- Ask your lender what unexpired term it requires at the end of the mortgage.
- Instruct a surveyor experienced in enfranchisement to value the extension premium for this specific lease.
- Negotiate the likely extension cost off the purchase price before you exchange contracts.
- Ask the seller to serve the statutory notice and assign its benefit to you at completion.
- Check The Leasehold Advisory Service for the latest reform timetable before deciding whether to extend now or wait.
Key Points
- The two-year ownership rule was abolished on 31 January 2025, so you can serve the statutory notice the day you complete.
- A statutory flat extension adds 90 years to the remaining term and reduces the ground rent to a peppercorn, typically costing £10,000 to £50,000.
- The statutory process usually takes 6 to 12 months from serving the notice to completing the new lease.
Additional Information
Parliament has legislated to abolish marriage value, but the valuation reforms are not yet in force. The government must first consult on the valuation rates and pass further legislation. No commencement date has been set, and further delay is likely.