Leasehold reform

[Guardian12]

We have 84 years left on the lease of our flat and don’t know whether to extend now or wait until we know more about the changes to leasehold law.

Is anyone else out there with a similar lease length taking a wait and see approach? We do plan on selling in a couple of years which may be hard if the changes aren’t in law yet and we still have a short lease.

That's a tricky one - the legislation is taking an absolute age, isn't it? I would at least get some advice from legal rep. as to the timeline, I know it can really vary. Ours took nearly 2y though it was not standard for various reasons.

My understanding of the situation is that the leasehold reform is primarily being focussed on leasehold houses rather than flats - given the marriage value issue when the lease dips under 80 years (and potential mortgage problems which come along with a short lease) I personally would just extend. If nothing else, it will make it much more appealing if you decide to sell.

If you are wanting to sell in a couple of years extend now. The reform is still 3-5 years away in my opinion, and you will struggle to sell with a shorter lease. Under 80 years you will have marriage value as well so will cost you a lot more.

Go for a statutory lease extension, extend it by 90 years and a zero ground rent.

Thanks. The next stage of the reform intends to abolish marriage value and will apply to flats as well as houses (and apparently make it easier and cheaper to extend a lease) which is why it’s so tempting to wait.

But I think it would be cutting it fine so the sensible thing is probably to extend now.