Understanding your shared ownership lease
Your lease length and why it’s important
A lease gives you the leaseholder the right to live in the shared ownership home for a fixed period of time from the date the lease began.
Leases since April 2021 must be for 990 years. Leases before April 2021 are usually much shorter and may be no more than 99 years. It’s important to check because a lease under 80 years can affect your home’s value, limit mortgage options, and be expensive to extend.
Check details about lease lengths on GOV.UK: Capital Funding Guidance for shared ownership
How to check the lease length
The length of your lease is stated in the lease itself.
You can also:
- ask your landlord how many years remain
- use our lease length checker
If your landlord is not the building owner
If your landlord and the building owner are not the same, some costs and restrictions may come from a “head lease”, an agreement between your landlord and the building owner.
Ownership structure
- Freeholder (owns the land or building outright):
- grants a head lease
- Your landlord or housing association:
- grants a lease (your shared ownership lease)
- You (the shared owner)
How a short head lease can affect a lease extension
It’s important to ask about the head lease as it can restrict what you can do.
For example, you will not be able to extend your lease beyond the length of the head lease.
- Last updated:
- 15 June 2026
- Next review:
- 15 June 2028
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