Every leasehold property has an expiry date, and the shorter the time left on the lease, the faster it loses value — extending it before that happens is one of the most valuable things a leaseholder can do. With a good number of leasehold flats and conversions across Norwich, our local conveyancing team offers practical, cost-effective advice on informal and statutory lease extensions, helping you avoid the extra cost of "marriage value" by acting before your lease drops below 80 years. Call 01865 692 369 to work out your options.
Lease Extension Services in Norwich
In short
Every leasehold property has an expiry date, and the shorter the time left on the lease, the faster it loses value — so extending it before that happens is one of the most valuable things a leaseholder can do. With a good number of leasehold flats and conversions across Norwich, this is a common issue for local homeowners. Call 01865 692 369 for practical, cost-effective advice on your lease extension.
Why the length of your lease matters
When a lease ends, ownership of the property reverts to the freeholder — so as the years on a lease run down, the property becomes progressively less valuable and harder to mortgage or sell. This effect accelerates sharply once a lease falls below 80 years remaining: letting it drop under that threshold can make the property much harder to sell, and considerably more expensive to extend, because of something called “marriage value.”
What is marriage value?
Where a lease has 80 years or fewer left to run, extending it increases the property’s value — and under the current rules, the freeholder is entitled to share in that increase, typically around 50% of it, as compensation. This is on top of the usual premium paid to extend. Extending well before you hit the 80-year mark avoids this additional cost altogether.
Not sure how many years are left on your Norwich lease? Call 01865 692 369 and we’ll help you work out your options.
Formal and informal lease extensions
If you've owned your leasehold property for at least two years and your original lease was for more than 21 years, you'll typically have a statutory right to extend. There are two routes to doing so:
- Informal extension - negotiating directly with your freeholder, which can be quicker where both sides are willing, but leaves the price and terms more open to negotiation
- Formal (statutory) extension - using your legal right to extend, with a tribunal available to resolve disagreements over the price or terms if you and the freeholder can't agree
Our Norwich conveyancing team can help you with an informal lease extension, negotiating directly with your freeholder on agreed terms. If your situation calls for the formal, statutory route - for example because your freeholder won't engage, or a tribunal application is needed - we'll be upfront about that from the outset and can refer you to a firm specialising in leasehold enfranchisement to handle that side of things.
If extending isn’t the right answer for your situation — for example, if enough of your neighbours also want more control over the building — it may be worth discussing buying the freehold instead, or exercising your right to manage.
Related Services
- Buy or sell a property in Norwich Buying & Selling Property in Norwich
- Remortgage your Norwich home Remortgaging Services in Norwich
- Formally transfer ownership of a property Transfer of Equity in Norwich