© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
© 2025 News On The Block. All rights reserved.
News on the Block is a trading name of Premier Property Media Ltd.
FACT 1: A lease is a wasting asset. The value of a leasehold property will diminish (relative to its value had it been a
freehold) as the lease runs down. The rate of decline is modest where it is long, but accelerates as it gets shorter. Correspondingly, as the lease length reduces so the cost of extending it increases. The longer you leave it, the more
expensive it gets. Broadly.
FACT 2: When you extend your lease, you are acquiring (most of) the landlord’s equity in your flat. You are therefore a buyer, and we are currently in a buyer’s market. Thus, extending your lease could be comparatively cheap by recent historical standards.
FACT 3: The timing of your claim is a matter entirely for you. The landlord has no say in it at all, and it is therefore a very useful weapon in your armoury.
FACT 4: Counter-intuitive though it might seem, now could be just the time to extend your lease, particularly if it is short. Of course the decision will be more complex than simply considering the facts above, and you must take competent professional advice, but don’t just assume now is a bad time, because it might not be at all.