Pack ordered immediately
01The managing agent pack is the long pole; we order it on day one.
Leasehold and lease extensions
A lease is a contract for decades. We read the whole of it — service charge machinery, forfeiture, alterations, subletting — and tell you what living under it will actually be like.
Typical timescale
10–16 weeks
Management pack
£200–£500, 3–6 weeks
Lender minimum term
Commonly 70–85 years at completion
Statutory extension
90 years added, ground rent to a peppercorn
01Leasehold
Reading the lease
We report to you on the unexpired term, the ground rent and any review mechanism, the service charge apportionment and how it is calculated, the reserve fund, the landlord's and tenant's repairing obligations, restrictions on alterations, subletting, pets and business use, and the forfeiture provisions.
Ground rent that doubles at short intervals, or that exceeds £250 a year outside London, has historically caused lender and marketability problems. We flag it and discuss whether a deed of variation should be a condition of the purchase.
02Leasehold
The management pack
The managing agent's pack tells you what the building actually costs to run: three years of service charge accounts, the current budget, the reserve fund balance, the buildings insurance schedule, any section 20 consultation for major works, and confirmation of whether the seller is in arrears.
Planned major works are the item that most often changes a buyer's mind. Where a section 20 notice has been served we negotiate whether the seller retains a sum on completion to cover the eventual bill.
03Leasehold
Extending your lease
A lease with fewer than roughly eighty years to run becomes markedly more expensive to extend because marriage value becomes payable, and lenders become reluctant below the seventy to eighty year mark. Extending sooner is almost always cheaper.
A qualifying leaseholder has a statutory right to a ninety-year extension at a peppercorn ground rent. The alternative is an informal extension negotiated with the freeholder, which is quicker but on whatever terms the freeholder is willing to offer. We advise on which route serves you and work alongside a valuer on the premium.
STEPSHow the matter runs
Every leasehold file follows the same sequence.
Lease reviewed in full
02Term, rent, charges, covenants and forfeiture reported to you in writing.
Landlord enquiries
03Arrears, works, consents and notice requirements confirmed.
Exchange and completion
04Apportionments agreed and completion synchronised.
Notices served
05Notice of transfer and charge served on the landlord and compliance certificates obtained.
Questions we are asked most
As a rule of thumb, below eighty years the cost of extending rises sharply, and below seventy many lenders decline. If you are buying a lease near those thresholds, factor the extension premium into your offer.
Property law, handled properly.
Need help with leasehold?
Send us the basic details and we will come back with a written quotation, the likely timescale and the name of the solicitor who will handle it.