Selling a flat with a short lease

You can sell a flat with a short lease, but once the lease falls to around 80 years or less, many buyers struggle to get a mortgage and the cost of extending it rises sharply, so offers usually reflect the cost and delay of extending. This page describes the law in England and Wales. Scotland and Northern Ireland are covered at the end.

What counts as a short lease?

A leasehold flat is owned for a fixed number of years, and every year the lease gets shorter. There is no single legal cut-off for a “short” lease, but 80 years is the figure that matters most. GOV.UK explains that when there are 80 years or less left on a lease, the cost of extending it increases significantly.

That makes the flat less attractive to buyers, because whoever owns it next will face that higher cost. It also makes lenders more cautious.

Why are short leases hard to mortgage?

A lender takes the flat as security for the loan. As the lease runs down, that security is worth less and becomes harder to sell on. Each lender sets its own minimum remaining lease term, and as the lease shortens, fewer lenders will accept it.

For you as a seller, the result is simple. The number of buyers who can proceed shrinks, and the buyers who remain know they will need to extend the lease, so they deduct the likely cost from what they will pay.

What is marriage value?

When a lease is extended, the flat becomes more valuable. Marriage value is, broadly, the increase in the combined value of the landlord’s and the leaseholder’s interests that results from the new, longer lease being granted.

Under the current rules for flats (Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993):

where more than 80 years remain on the lease, marriage value is treated as nil
where 80 years or less remain, the landlord is entitled to 50% of the marriage value, on top of the other elements of the price

This is why the cost of extending jumps once a lease passes the 80-year mark, and why every year below it tends to cost more.

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Can I extend the lease before selling?

Many leaseholders of flats have a statutory right to a lease extension. Under the current rules, a qualifying flat owner can get a new lease adding 90 years to the existing term. For leasehold houses, the current statutory extension is 50 years.

A few points are worth knowing:

The two-year rule has gone. Since 31 January 2025, you no longer need to have owned the flat for two years before making a claim. A buyer can therefore start a statutory extension as soon as they complete.
You pay your landlord’s costs. Under the current rules, the leaseholder is liable for the landlord’s reasonable costs of investigating the claim, valuing the flat and granting the new lease, in addition to the price and your own solicitor and valuer.
You can negotiate informally. Some landlords will agree an extension outside the statutory process. The terms may differ from a statutory extension, so a solicitor should check them.

The Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) gives free, independent advice on lease extensions, and GOV.UK links to its lease extension calculator.

What has the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 changed?

The 2024 Act makes major changes to lease extensions in England and Wales, but only one of the changes most relevant to sellers is in force. As of September 2026:

Change	Status
Removal of the two-year ownership requirement	In force since 31 January 2025
Statutory lease extensions of 990 years (section 33)	Not yet in force
New price calculation that removes marriage value (section 37 and Schedules 4 to 6)	Not yet in force
Capping the ground rent used in the calculation at 0.1% of the property value	Not yet in force

The government has said it cannot bring the new valuation rules into force until it fixes some flaws in the 2024 Act through further primary legislation, which it plans to do through a Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill. It is also consulting on the valuation rates that would be used, with the consultation running until 21 October 2026. No commencement date has been set.

In practical terms, a statutory lease extension claimed today is still priced under the old rules, including marriage value where 80 years or less remain. This area is changing, so check the current position with LEASE or a solicitor before you decide anything.

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Should I wait for the reforms?

We cannot tell you whether to wait, and nobody can yet say when the new rules will start. Waiting has its own cost: the lease keeps getting shorter, and if you need to sell for other reasons, a delay may not be possible. A solicitor or LEASE can explain how the options compare for your flat.

How do cash buyers approach a short lease?

A cash buyer does not need a lender to accept the lease, so a short lease does not stop the purchase. Many investors buy short-lease flats intending to extend the lease themselves once they own it, which the removal of the two-year rule has made simpler.

They will still price in the premium, both sides’ legal and valuation costs, the time involved and the risk of a dispute over the price. Offers for a short-lease flat are usually well below the price of the same flat with a long lease, and a quick sale generally means accepting less than full market value. Our guide to how much cash buyers pay explains the arithmetic.

If you would like to see what buyers on our panel might offer, you can get offers for my home. It is free and there is no obligation to accept anything, and you can compare any offer with the likely cost of extending first.

Whichever route you take, have your lease, service charge records and the details of your freeholder ready. Your solicitor will also need you to complete the Leasehold Information Form (TA7). Our checklist of documents you need to sell covers the rest.

What about Scotland and Northern Ireland?

Scotland has a different system of land ownership. The Long Leases (Scotland) Act 2012 converted qualifying long leases into outright ownership on 28 November 2015. Northern Ireland has its own leasehold law. If your home is in either nation, ask a local solicitor how the rules apply, and see our guide to selling a house in Scotland.

Common questions

Can I sell my flat without extending the lease first?

Yes. You can sell a leasehold flat with any length of lease remaining. The shorter the lease, the fewer buyers can get a mortgage on it, and the more the buyer will deduct for the cost and time of extending it.

Has marriage value been abolished?

Not yet. The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 includes a new way of calculating the price of a lease extension without marriage value, but those provisions are not in force. As of September 2026, a statutory lease extension in England and Wales is still priced under the old rules, including marriage value where 80 years or less remain.

Can a buyer extend the lease as soon as they buy?

Yes. Since 31 January 2025 there is no longer a requirement to have owned the flat for two years before claiming a statutory lease extension in England and Wales. A buyer can start the process straight after completion.

How much does it cost to extend a lease?

It depends on the flat's value, the years remaining and the ground rent. Under the current rules you also usually pay your landlord's reasonable legal and valuation costs as well as your own. The Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE) gives free, independent guidance and has an online calculator.