There are two ways to extend your lease. You can take a formal route, which gives you more protection, or an informal route, which could save you time and money.
It is worth starting with the informal route and switching to the formal one if you need to.
Informal route
Under this route, you can ask the freeholder whether they are interested in negotiating a lease extension. There is no obligation for them to respond or to agree to extend the lease.
If the freeholder does agree, then you can negotiate. But if you then cannot agree on the price or terms, and you meet the conditions, you can change to the formal route and go to the tribunal.
Formal route
If you own your flat, you can extend your lease by law if you meet certain conditions:
- you must have owned your lease for the past 2 years
- it must be a ‘long lease’ – a lease with an original term of more than 21 years when it was first granted
- your landlord is not a charity providing a flat for you as part of their work
- it is not a business or commercial lease
Under this route, you and the freeholder need to follow a procedure and timescales set out by law. It can be complicated, and we do recommend you appoint a valuer and a solicitor to assist you.
In brief, you serve a formal notice on your landlord outlining your claim and your terms. The landlord may ask you for evidence or request that you pay a deposit before submitting a reply, called a ‘counter-notice’. They may:
- admit your claim and agree to your terms
- admit your claim and propose new terms – if you cannot agree on terms after 2 months you can apply to the tribunal to decide
- not admit your claim – you apply to the county court to renew the lease
- refuse to grant a new lease because they can prove they are redeveloping the building and the lease has less than 5 years to run
- not reply – you can apply to the county court to renew the lease
Get help
Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area.
Template letter for the informal route
More information you might find useful:
- Lease Extension – Getting Started: advice guide
- Lease Extension Calculator
- More Frequently Asked Questions on Lease Extension
Still not found the answer?
Contact LEASE to have your enquiry dealt with by one of our experienced advisers
