Essential Lease Extension Process for 2025
The lease extension process is complex for leaseholders and navigating it may feel daunting. We've put together this easy guide for extending your lease in 2025 so you know what to do and when.
It includes up to date changes to the legislation following the Leasehold and Freehold Reform act 2024 was passed and links to key information on the costs and how long the process takes.
This guide focuses on the formal statutory lease extension process for flats. See our dedicated guide for information on the alternative informal route.
Whilst the law has been passed to simplify the process, a lot of the new legislation has yet to come into force. This guide is up to date and will save you time and money along the way. If you have any questions not answered below, get in contact with our free helpline and we'll be glad to help.
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 was passed on the 24th May 2024, but is not yet in effect and the date for this is not yet clear. We will update our content as and when the finalised legislation is published. Read more - Expected changes
Stage 1: Check you are Eligible
Before starting the lease extension process, you need to ensure you meet the eligibility criteria for a formal statutory claim. This is the essential first step.
Currently, to be eligible, your lease must have been a long lease when originally granted (over 21 years). Most modern leases meet this requirement.
Updated for 2025: A significant change under the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (which came into force in part in January 2025) means that you no longer need to have owned the property for two years to be eligible for a statutory lease extension. Eligibility is now based solely on the nature of the lease itself.
However, you are generally not eligible if:
- Your landlord is a charitable housing trust, and the flat is provided as part of the charity’s functions.
- It is a business or commercial lease.
- It is a National Trust property.
- It is owned by the Crown Estate.
Note that the formal process detailed in this guide primarily applies to standard leasehold flats. Lease extensions for Shared Ownership properties or properties with specific structures like Tyneside leases follow different procedures.
Stage 2: Value the Premium
Once you've confirmed your eligibility, the second crucial step in the formal lease extension process is to determine the premium payable to the freeholder.
The premium is the legal compensation you pay for extending your lease by 90 years and reducing the ground rent to a peppercorn. You need an accurate valuation to include a premium figure in your formal Section 42 Notice.
Instructing a specialist RICS leasehold surveyor to provide a professional valuation is highly recommended. This gives you a legally sound figure based on valuation principles, essential for making a reasonable offer and useful for potential negotiations. Relying on inaccurate figures can lead to disputes and delays in the process.
Understanding all the costs involved, including the surveyor's fee, and how the lease extension premium is calculated are covered in detail in our dedicated guides.
While the valuer's role extends to potential negotiations later in the process, at this stage, their primary purpose is to:
- Provide an expert assessment of the premium.
- Advise on the offer figure to include in your formal Tenant's Notice.
- Provide a basis for responding to the landlord's Section 45 Counter-Notice.
- Qualified RICS surveyors.
- Specialists in valuing lease premiums.
- Support with negotiations.
- Turnaround within 1 week, faster if required.
Serve Section 42 Notice and Negotiations
With your eligibility confirmed and premium valued, the third stage involves formally notifying the freeholder and the subsequent negotiations.
Serving the Section 42 Notice
The formal process begins with serving a Section 42 Notice (also known as a Tenant's Notice) on your freeholder. This legal document formally informs them of your claim to extend your lease and includes your proposed premium and terms.
Ensuring the notice is drafted and served correctly is critical to initiating a valid claim and adhering to statutory requirements. A specialist lease extension solicitor handles this complex step.
You will need to identify your freeholder and their address for service. You can obtain copies of the freehold title from the Land Registry; the online cost is currently £7.
If your freeholder is absent or cannot be located, there is a specific legal process involving applying for a Vesting Order to proceed without their direct involvement.
Once served, the Section 42 Notice is registered with the Land Registry to protect your claim. Serving the notice establishes the 'valuation date', which freezes certain factors influencing the premium price for the duration of the claim.
Freeholder's Section 45 Counter-Notice
After receiving your Section 42 Notice, the freeholder has a statutory period of two months to respond by serving a Section 45 Counter-Notice.
Their notice will either accept your claim and terms, accept the claim but propose alternative terms (including a different premium), or deny your claim with reasons.
Failure by the freeholder to serve a valid Counter-Notice within the two months allows you to apply to the court for a Vesting Order to complete the extension on your original terms.
Negotiation and Tribunal
If the freeholder proposes alternative terms or a different premium in their Counter-Notice, a negotiation period follows.
There is a statutory timeframe for negotiations; if agreement is not reached within two months of the Counter-Notice, either party can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) for a determination.
The deadline to apply to the Tribunal is six months from the date of the Counter-Notice. Missing this deadline can result in your claim being deemed withdrawn, requiring you to wait 12 months before you can submit a new notice.
Negotiations typically involve surveyors representing each party.
If negotiation fails and a Tribunal application is made within the deadline, the Tribunal will make an independent determination on the terms and premium. Understanding the Tribunal process and potential costs is essential if your case reaches this stage.
Throughout this stage, your lease extension solicitor manages the legal deadlines and documentation, working alongside your surveyor during negotiations.
Stage 4: Extend the lease (Completion & Registration)
The final stage of the formal lease extension process involves the legal completion of the new lease and its registration at the Land Registry.
This stage is primarily managed by your specialist lease extension solicitor, who handles the necessary legal formalities after the premium and terms have been agreed.
Key steps during this stage include:
- Drafting the new lease: The freeholder's solicitor drafts the new lease or a deed of variation incorporating the agreed terms and extended lease length.
- Reviewing the new lease: Your solicitor reviews the draft lease to ensure it accurately reflects the agreed terms and does not contain any unfavourable clauses.
- Signing the new lease: The final lease document is signed by both parties (or their legal representatives) as a deed.
- Completion: On the agreed completion date, your solicitor transfers the premium and any outstanding fees to the freeholder's solicitor.
- Post-completion: Your solicitor handles necessary post-completion steps, including paying any Stamp Duty Land Tax due and submitting the application to register the extended lease at the Land Registry.
The legal process of completion can take varying amounts of time after terms are agreed, and Land Registry registration times can also be significant.
Details on the lease extension timeline for completion and registration, as well as information on funding the costs, are available.
- Expert panel of conveyancing solicitors, with local knowledge.
- Specialists in lease extensions.
- Fixed, competitive legal fees.
- We guide you through every step of the way.
Andrew started his career in 2000 working within conveyancing solicitor firms and grew hands-on knowledge of a wide variety of conveyancing challenges and solutions. After helping in excess of 50,000 clients in his career, he uses all this experience within his article writing for SAM, mainstream media and his self published book How to Buy a House Without Killing Anyone.
Caragh is an excellent writer and copy editor of books, news articles and editorials. She has written extensively for SAM for a variety of conveyancing, survey, property law and mortgage-related articles.
