It is important to know how many years are remaining on your lease as it grants you the right to live in your home for a set number of years from the date it starts (anywhere between 99 and 990).

As your lease gets shorter it can become harder to re-mortgage or sell your home, so you may want to consider extending your lease. Non-shared owners have a statutory right to extend their lease; shared owners do not currently have a statutory right, but we may still consider a voluntary extension. The additional term that we’ll offer will depend on if Housing Solutions are the freeholder to your home, or if we own a head lease with a superior landlord.

As of January 2025 there is no-longer a requirement to have owned your property for 2 years before you can extend your lease – you can do so as soon as you have completed.

There is a free calculator, which can help you estimate the possible premium, and further advice available on the Lease Advice website (www.lease-advice.org).

The benefits of extending your lease

By extending your lease you can enjoy a longer period of ownership, which in turn can preserve or increase the value of your home. Longer leases can often be more attractive to potential buyers and lenders, making it easier to sell or remortgage.

The costs involved

If you want to extend your lease you will need to pay for a lease extension valuation from our surveyor (this is not the same as a mortgage valuation), the premium to increase the lease, and our legal fees and your own legal fees.

The premium to extent your lease is calculated in line with the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, taking into account the current value of your home, the current ground rent and the associated reduction in it, and the number of years remaining on the lease before the extension.

Applying to extend your lease

The process to extend your lease is relatively straightforward, but you will need to instruct a solicitor to act on your behalf if you wish to proceed. The process should normally complete in about 6 months.

1.      Contact the Home Ownership Team to notify us that you’d like to explore extending your lease; we’ll ask you to complete a Lease Extension Application Form and pay the valuation fee

2.      We’ll instruct the valuation, and provide the valuers with your contact details so that they can arrange an inspection of the property

3.      Once we get the valuation back we’ll send you an Offer Notice which will tell you the premium payable to extend your lease; you’ll have 3 months from the date of the offer to return the Lease Extension Acceptance Form attached to it if you want to proceed (this is the point you need to instruct a solicitor to act on your behalf)

4.      When you return your Lease Extension Acceptance Form we will instruct our solicitors, who will liaise with yours to complete the lease Deed of Surrender and Re-Grant (your lease extension)