Who is allowed to apply to extend a Lease?

You qualify if you are a Tenant of a flat under a long Residential Lease. 

            Who does not qualify?

The following do not qualify to purchase the freehold title:

• Owners of Business Leases
• Owners of three or more flats in the same building
• Leaseholders who live in a building owned by a charity

  Can you extend the Lease at any time?

No, you have to have had the lease for a 2 year period, unless the landlord agrees to dispense with that requirement. 

            How is the price of the extension valued?

It is strongly recommended that the initial value is ascertained by a professional valuer or surveyor.  They should be somebody with expertise in this area. 

The valuer will usually provide a ball-park figure which will then be negotiated between the parties. 

The value will take into account the following:

• Market Value (i.e. what the value of the property would be as a freehold on the property market)
• Half the Marriage Value (i.e: the value of the combination of the Leasehold and the Freehold Title)
• Compensation (i.e. a payment made for any loss or damage caused to the Landlord by the collective enfranchisement).

A calculation on Marriage Value only applies to Leases which have less than 80 years to run.  Therefore, if your lease is coming up to the 80 year period, you may well consider extending then.  Please bear in mind that if you are buying a new property, you cannot buy for 2 years.  You may wish to to ask the outgoing tenant to put an application in.