Lease Extension Surveyors London
As experts in Lease Enfranchisement, our team at Copeland Yussuf offer high-quality lease extension services to customers and clients within London and the surrounding area.
For help with lease extensions in London please email or call our team.
Due to the high number of flats and apartment buildings in London, leasehold properties are becoming very common within the property market. If you’re a leaseholder in London and want to manage the property well, you’ll need our lease extension services to help you save money during your lease.
As specialist lease extension surveyors, our team at Copeland Yussuf can help you throughout the lease extension process, helping you to add value to your property. To get started, contact our London branch today.
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Get help with lease extension in London
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What is a lease extension?
When you get a lease extension, you’re paying a fee to increase the duration of your leasehold interest. Properties sold on a lease have a form of ownership that expires after a set period. If you let your leasehold expire, you’ll no longer be the legal owner of the property, with it being handed back to the freeholder.
Thankfully, getting a lease extension in London can help you add more years to your lease, which can bring many fantastic benefits.
Due to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (the 1993 Act), most leaseholds have the legal right to extend their lease period. As long as you meet the eligibility criteria within the 1993 Act, you can add an extra 90 years to flats and 50 years to houses without minimal resistance from your freeholder or landlord.
When getting a lease extension in London, there is a process that you need to follow and rules you must abide by. These rules can make it tricky to navigate the process properly, so you should work with a lease extension surveyor to help you along the way.
What does a London lease extension surveyor do?
A lease surveyor does many different things that can help you with a lease extension, which is why they can be useful during the process. When getting a lease extension surveyor in London, you can expect them to provide support and guidance throughout.
In addition, getting a surveyor is required to complete certain tasks throughout the process, so you should get the best one in the London area.
One of the primary responsibilities of a lease extension surveyor is to organise and complete a property inspection. This inspection allows them to come up with an accurate valuation of the property. With this valuation, a lease extension surveyor will then be able to determine how much your premium should be, based on guidelines set by the 1993 Act.
In addition, a lease extension surveyor in London is also responsible for negotiating with your freeholder on your behalf. They’ll be able to suggest how much you should offer for the lease extension and can also help you draft a Section 42 Notice, a document you must issue to your freeholder. As well as this, a surveyor needs to issue this on your behalf.
During the process, a lease extension surveyor in London, like Copeland Yussuf, can also help you with the legal process and support the court and property chamber if they’re required to decide on your lease extension.
Everything that our surveyors at Copeland Yussuf do is per the 1993 Act, and we work hard to ensure that its guidelines are enforced throughout the process.
What can a lease extension in London do for you?
When you get a lease extension in London with the help of our Chartered Surveyors, you can experience many benefits that can allow you to save money and improve your potential to earn more money in the future.
One of the main benefits of getting a lease extension in London is that it can dramatically increase the value of your property.
The less time you have left on your current lease, the less your house will be worth, dropping in value every year. This means that if you decide to sell your property with around 85 years left on your lease, it will sell for less than if you have a lease of 150 years or more. Although getting a lease extension can be an expective upfront fee, the increase in value can help you obtain an overall profit when you sell your property.
In addition, getting a lease extension in London can also reduce your ground rent to zero. Since mid-2022, ground rent has been abolished on new or extended leases. If you get a lease extension, you can turn your ground rent to null, saving money annually on your property. A lease extension surveyor in London can help you determine if an extension cost is worth the reduced ground rent. Still, in most scenarios, it’s definitely something to consider.
Another big thing a lease extension can do for leaseholds in London is make it easier to sell your property. If a lease term drops below 80 years, many mortgage providers will not offer a mortgage for potential buyers. This means that if you decide to sell your home, fewer people will be able to buy it, making the selling process really tough.
If you extend your lease before you reach 80 years or less, you’ll find it easier to sell your property in London and will likely get more for it.
Plus, getting a lease extension now rather than later can save you from paying a considerable amount of money. Extending a lease gets more expensive the less time it has to run, and if it drops below 80 years, you’ll have to contribute 50% of the marriage value to your freeholder.
Your marriage value is the difference between your property’s current worth and the amount after the lease extension. If your lease extension causes the property’s value to rise by £30,000, you’ll have to pay £15,000 to your freeholder on top of your premium.
This is why getting a lease extension early can save you money and why it can be helpful to get support from a lease extension surveyor in London like Copeland Yussuf.
Make sure to use our lease extension calculator to get an idea of costs and more.
The London Lease Extension Process
There’s a defined process that all leaseholders need to follow when getting a lease extension through the statutory route per the 1993 Act. At Copeland Yussuf, our team of London surveyors are experts on this process and can help you through it and make it much quicker than usual.
Your first step in the process is to hire and instruct a lease extension surveyor. Once you’ve chosen one, you’ll be able to get the ball rolling in extending your lease:
Step 1. Hire A London Surveyor
First, once you know you’re eligible for a lease extension in London, you’ll instruct a surveyor to inspect your property and come up with an accurate valuation. With this valuation, the surveyor can determine how much a lease extension will cost.
Step 2. Section 42 Notice
After this valuation, you must serve a Section 42 Notice to your freeholder. Your surveyor gets a solicitor to do this and informs your freeholder that you intend to extend your lease and also includes your first offer of how much you’re willing to pay.
Step 3. Freeholder Response
Once your Section 42 Notice has been delivered, the freeholder has two months to respond. They’ll do so through a Section 45 Notice, agreeing to the price, rejecting it, or asking for a different amount.
Step 4. Pay Deposit
If the Section 42 Notice has been agreed upon, you must pay a deposit to confirm the lease extension. It will either be 10% of the total lease extension cost or £250, depending on what’s more expensive. This deposit needs to be paid within 14 days, with the rest due at a later date.
Step 5. First Tier Tribunal
If the Section 42 is rejected and you can’t reach an agreement within six months, you’ll need to apply for the case to be resolved at a Top Tier Tribunal. When you do this, these representatives will decide on the final price the lease extension should cost, which must be accepted.
No matter the outcome of your Section 42 Notice, you will always have the right to extend your lease in London, even if the freeholder doesn’t want to. That’s why getting a quality and well-trusted lease extension surveyor like Copeland Yussuf is important to ensure you’re not paying too much for it.
This entire process can take up to 12 months, but an experienced surveyor may help you speed up the process.
Why choose Copeland Yussuf for Lease Extensions in London?
If you want to extend your lease in London, we’re the premier choice. We’ve served various clients in the city for years and have the experience, skill, and knowledge of the capital to provide great support through your lease extension journey.
Through hard work, we’ve cultivated an excellent reputation in London and are proud to be the registered panel surveyors for multiple housing groups and councils in the city.
We’re also pleased to share that RICS, the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors, recommend us. Being part of this group means that we maintain the highest industry standards and are always aware of recent developments. We strictly adhere to The Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 to ensure that our work is legal, accurate, and the best it can be.
We’re also a member of the Association of Lease Extension Practitioners, which indicates that we’re one of the best in the field.
We offer multiple lease extension services to help you get the most out of the process. No matter your situation, we can:
- Check that you’re eligible for a lease extension
- Inspect your property and provide an accurate valuation to inform your lease extension price
- Help you negotiate a good price with your freeholder
- Share information to help if there’s a First Tier Tribunal
We’re experts in all things Lease Enfranchisement, so we are well-versed and experienced with lease extensions and can also offer various other services to help you manage your leasehold. Contact us today to see how we can help you.
Lease Extension London FAQs
Do you need a London lease extension surveyor?
A lease extension surveyor is a requirement when extending a lease. You need them to properly value your home so that you know how much a lease extension should cost. In addition, they're also vital for drafting and sending a Section 42 notice, especially as they're the people that must serve the notice; you cannot do it yourself.
A lease extension surveyor in London will also be able to help you negotiate a great price for your lease extension and provide support for any legal proceedings.
What's the difference between a statutory and informal lease extension?
A statutory lease extension is where you can extend your lease per the 1993 Act. When you get a statutory lease extension, your freeholder cannot reject it, and you can obtain an extension of 90 years for a flat. The price you pay for the extension is based on your property value and certain rules, meaning you'll get a fair quote.
However, you need to be eligible for this kind of lease extension. You may have to get an informal lease extension if you're not.
This type of lease extension is where you have no protection from the 1993 Act legislation. This means the freeholder can completely refuse your request, offer an extension term below 90 years, and ask for an inflated premium without ramifications.
Am I eligible for a lease extension in London?
You need to pass a couple of eligibility criteria to get a lease extension through the statutory method.
To have the right to get a lease, you need to have been the leaseholder for over two years, and the original lease term when you bought it must have been over 21 years old.
In addition to this, you can't get a statutory lease extension if the freeholder is a charity or if you own a commercial lease.
How much does getting a lease extension cost?
The amount you must pay for a lease extension is based on various factors, so it's hard to give a rough estimate without this information. You have to pay for your lease extension because your freeholder is entitled to compensation for the loss of income or potential income an extension will cause.
When inspecting your property and coming up with a value, a lease extension surveyor in London will use the following to figure out how much you owe:
- How much your freeholder's interest decreases because of the additional years added
- The amount the property's value increases by
- How much your ground rent cost as that has to be compensated
- The location of your property, as that influences its value
- The number of years you have remaining on your lease
In addition to these fees, you'll also have to pay for the services of your surveyor. Because you're liable for any costs your freeholder may have had to pay, you also have to cover their legal fees, providing they're reasonable. We have a lease extension calculator you can use to get an idea of the costs.
Can you get multiple lease extensions in succession?
You are not restricted on the number of lease extensions you can make, and you can extend it multiple times as long as you meet the criteria and are willing to pay for each extension.
That said, it's unlikely that you'll make more than one extension on a single property. This is because of how long lease extensions can be. Usually, most people would have moved on from the property before the lease term reached a point where it makes sense to extend it again. You'll unlikely need to extend a lease on a single house twice in one lifetime unless you get multiple informal leases with shorter terms.
If the property has been passed down to a relative, then they are more than able to extend the lease again if needed.
What's the difference between a freehold and a leasehold property?
A freehold property and leasehold property have some key differences that make them unique. A freehold is where the owner, also known as a freeholder, owns the land and the property that the land is on. They own this indefinitely until they decide to sell it or pass it on.
A leasehold differs, as technically, the leaseholder only owns the property, whereas the freeholder still owns the land. As well as this, a leasehold will have a specific term until the ownership expires. If a leasehold gets to the end of its period, ownership is returned to the freeholder.
As a leaseholder, you'll likely have more restrictions on what you can do with the property, and if you bought it before June 30 2022, you'll also have to pay your freeholder ground rent.
Can a freeholder refuse a leasehold extension in London?
A freeholder cannot reject a leasehold extension if you have the right to get one under The Leasehold Refrom, Housing, and Urban Development Act 1993. Even if they disagree with your offered price and submit a counteroffer, eventually, they will have to accept a valuation that the court laid out.
You can only have your lease extension proposal rejected if you're ineligible and are getting an informal extension. In this scenario, you have no legal protection, and the freeholder is within their rights to reject an extension.
What if I can't get hold of the freeholder?
To start the extension process, you need to contact your freeholder so that they can be issued a Section 42 Notice. If you don't know where they live or have no way to contact them, then things can get a bit tricky.
If you cannot contact or locate your freeholder, you can apply for a Vesting Order that allows you to continue the process through the courts. However, to get this, you need to prove that you've made an adequate attempt to contact them.
To prove this, you must show that you placed ads in your local newspaper, hired a search agent to find the freeholder, visited their last known address, and searched the probate records.
Once you've done all this, you should be able to continue your process through the courts.
How common are leasehold properties in London?
In 2021, only 8% of all houses were leaseholds across the UK. This means they make up a small percentage of the property market. However, in regards to flats and apartments, about 58% of these across the country were leaseholds.
They're more common as flats because the entire building each unit is in will be freehold, and each unit will be sold under a lease.
In London, there are many more flats and apartments than in other areas of the UK, meaning leasehold properties are more common here than elsewhere. When you factor in all types of buildings, 35% of all properties in London were leaseholds in 2022, making them a lot more common here than in different areas.
Is there a minimum requirement on how long a lease extension has to be?
When getting a lease extension via the statutory route, your lease will be extended automatically by 90 years if it's a flat or 50 years if it's a house. This means that this is both the minimum and maximum it can increase through one extension.
However, if you get an informal lease extension, there is no minimum limit on how long the lease can be extended. That said, it's always in the leaseholder's best interest to try and get as long of an extension as possible to avoid issues in the future.
Our London Lease Extension Surveyors are ready to help
Over the years serving London, we’ve received multiple great reviews and testimonials from our past clients and partners. Our lease extension surveyors in London have built an excellent reputation, and we’re passionate about continuing this trend of feedback.
We offer a bespoke and considerate experience, working around your needs to ensure the entire lease extension process is stress-free and worthwhile.
Here are some examples of how we’ve helped countless London individuals in similar situations to yours. Reviews have been sourced from Google, Yell.com and private feedback.
