Professional valuation

The cost of buying a lease extension will be made up of the following:

• Loss to the freeholder of his ground rent income.
• Loss to him of his reversion, i.e. his entitlement to the flat at the end of the existing lease, and any other loss to him (if any). 
• 50% of the marriage value. The marriage value is best defined as the increase in the value of the flat arising from the leasehold and freehold interests being combined. There is no marriage value payable on flats that have more than 80 years un-expired on the lease.

The leaseholders also have to pay the freeholder's valuation costs and his solicitor's costs. They will also have to pay stamp duty.

To apply for a lease extension a solicitor will need to serve a notice on the freeholder under S.42 of the 1993 Act making an offer.

The freeholder may accept the offer or respond in his counter notice with his own asking price following which the leaseholder may wish to enter into negotiations to settle the premium to be paid. If this cannot be achieved then either the leaseholder or the freeholder may make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal who will determine the price payable.

How we can help?
We can provide advice on the price we believe should be fairly paid under the 1993 Act. The figure we can provide you with comes from our experience of acting on behalf of leaseholders and freeholders under the 1993 Act. It also comes from cases that have been brought before the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. These cases give the prices paid for lease extensions on flats of various values and lease lengths in different areas. These sources of information help build up a picture, which we can apply to flats of all values and all lease lengths.

Our further role
Once you have received our report we would be very pleased to assist further with negotiations if required in an attempt to reach agreement.