A lease with fewer than 80 years remaining is likely to be more expensive to extend and harder to sell or mortgage. This page explains how lease extensions work and what you need to consider before applying.
Oxford City Council does not issue voluntary lease extensions and cannot tell you the likely cost of a lease extension.
How to apply
You must appoint a solicitor and valuer to submit a formal and valid notice under section 42 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. The notice must include a proposed price for the lease extension.
Send the original notice by post to the Director of Housing, Oxford City Council. See Write to us for our main postal address, how to deliver by hand and information about sending documents by post.
We strongly recommend that you seek legal or valuation advice about the operation of the Act.
What you will pay
You will need to pay:
- your own legal and professional fees
- our legal and valuation costs, including:
- employing a valuer
- legal work to deal and respond to a valid notice
- drafting and completing the new lease
Additional costs may apply if:
- your notice is invalid
- you request changes to other terms in your lease
- your lease is defective or incomplete (e.g. missing pages)
- you sell your lease during the application
You will also have to pay a premium to the Council for the new, extended lease. We cannot say what that premium might be. You should seek valuation advice.
You may wish to use the calculator on the Leasehold Advisory Service website for a general estimate of the premium (price) for extending the lease of a flat. You can also contact the HomeOwners Alliance.
You will be liable for our reasonable professional fees from the date you serve the formal notice, whether or not your application is successful.
Length of the extension
Under the current legislation, a lease can be extended by 90 years.
For example, if your original lease was 125 years and 40 years have already passed, you will have an ‘unexpired term’ of 85 years. Extending your lease would increase this to 175 years.
Ground rent and service charges
After the lease extension is granted:
- your ground rent of £10 per year will end
- you will still need to pay service charges, such as buildings insurance, as set out in your lease
Changes to the terms of the lease
The new lease will be identical to your existing lease, apart from:
- minor modifications and certain exclusions or additions permitted by law, such as updates to reflect alterations to the flat or building since the original lease was granted (for example, changes to gas lighting or coal stores)
- corrections to any errors in the original lease
Your solicitor can advise you on the full list of permitted changes.
How long the process takes
A lease extension can take between 4 months and 1 year to complete, depending on the leaseholder’s instructions.
There are strict time limits, including:
- you must give us at least 2 months to respond to your section 42 notice
- if we agree to the proposal in your section 42 notice, or you agreed to our counter-notice proposal, the lease must complete within 4 months of the date of agreement on the premium and the contents of the lease
- if there is a dispute, you may apply to a tribunal within 6 months of our counter-notice, however if you do not apply within this period, your claim ends and you cannot make another claim for 1 year
Most cases do not go to tribunal, as this is often not cost‑effective.
Timings may also be affected by your solicitor, valuer and the instructions you give them.
The Council will act as quickly as required, but must follow internal processes in order to ensure both compliance with the law and proper accountability for decisions relating to the sale of public assets.
Independent advice
We cannot recommend solicitors or valuers, but you can get independent advice from the following organisations:
Changes to legislation
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Bill became law on 24 May 2024, shortly before Parliament was prorogued ahead of the general election on 4 July 2024.
Key points include:
- increasing the maximum lease extension from 90 years to 990 years for flats
- introducing a new methodology for valuing the premium payable to the freeholder in exchange for the extension, to reduce the cost of lease extensions
- removing the requirement that a tenant must have owned a lease for at least 2 years before extending or enfranchising
- ending the default requirement for tenants to pay the landlord’s legal costs, except in limited circumstances
- making it easier to challenge unreasonable charges imposed by landlords at tribunal
Additionally:
- the sale of new leasehold houses will be banned except in certain circumstances
- excessive buildings insurance commissions for freeholders and managing agents will end
- freehold homeowners on private and mixed-tenure estates have the same rights of redress as leaseholders, as well as greater transparency over estate charges.
- leaseholders will be able to take over the management of their property if they wish
- leaseholders in some properties were previously unable to take over the management of a site or buy the freehold if more than 25% of the floor space was commercial. This limit will now be increased to 50%
What happens next
Most of these changes will not come into effect immediately or even within a specified timeline. Further legislation is required, including measures relating to:
- abolishing marriage value, which could make it cheaper for leaseholders with fewer than 80 years left to extend their leases
- setting the key rates used to calculate lease extension and freehold purchase prices
Government impact assessments suggest these changes may not be implemented until at least 2026.
Any leaseholder considering a lease extension must seek legal advice.
