Lease extension: the formal route
About the formal (statutory) route
The formal route is your legal right to extend the lease of your flat. If you qualify, you can be granted a new lease with 90 years added to the previous term and the ground rent reduced to a peppercorn rent (which will be a cost of zero).
To extend your lease, you will pay a premium (price) calculated under rules set out in the legislation (the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993).
Check if you qualify
To use the formal route, you must be a qualifying tenant of a flat with a long lease.
A qualifying tenant in a leasehold property is a tenant who holds a long lease.
A long lease usually means a lease that was originally granted for more than 21 years when it first started – and not how many years are left now.
So even if your lease has less than 21 years now, it still counts as a long lease if the lease was originally granted for a term that was longer than 21 years.
Exceptions
You will not qualify if:
- your landlord is a charitable housing trust and the flat is provided as part of the charity’s work
- your lease is a business or commercial lease
2-year ownership rule
As of 31 January 2025, there is no 2-year-ownership rule. New leaseholders can start the formal lease extension process as soon as they are the registered owners.
- Last updated:
- 16 December 2025
- Next review:
- 16 December 2027
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