What happens when a leasehold expires?

Whether you already own a leasehold property or you’re considering buying one, it’s vital you understand what happens when a leasehold expires. We look at what you need to do to avoid this happening and the steps to take now.

Paula Higgins CEO & Founder

What is a leasehold?

When you buy a property it will be leasehold or freehold. If you are buying a leasehold property, you own the property, not the land, and only for the length of your lease agreement with the freeholder. Leases can be up to 999 years long or short, with 80 years or less.

The lease owner is known as the freeholder and your lease will outline the terms regarding the property, including the length of the lease, any ground rent and leasehold charges due, and any restrictions or conditions on the use of the property.

By comparison, if you buy a freehold property you own the building and the land it stands on indefinitely.

See our guide for more detailed advice if you are considering buying a leasehold property.

What happens when a leasehold expires?

When a lease on a leasehold property expires, all legal rights in the property revert to the freeholder. There are different potential outcomes in terms of what happens when a leasehold expires:

• The landlord may serve a prescribed notice proposing an assured periodic tenancy in return for rent.
• They may serve notice to gain possession of the property, however, they’ll need a court order to do this.
• If neither of these happen, you may still be able to extend the lease or buy the freehold. However, this could be very expensive. Bear in mind, your leasehold can expire even if you’ve paid off your mortgage in full on a leasehold property.

However, in reality, most leases don’t expire because they are extended well before the lease runs out. But this doesn’t happen automatically. So it’s important to find out how long is left on your lease and take action, if required.

How do I know how long is left on the lease?

If you already own the property, check your lease to see how much time is left on it, or contact the freeholder. You can also request this information from the Land Registry for a fee.

If you’re buying a leasehold property, you can ask the estate agent how long is left on the lease but don’t take their word for it as they could be wrong. Instead, key information about the lease including its length should be supplied in the Leasehold Property Enquiries (LPE1) which your conveyancing solicitor will request from the company or person that administers the terms of the lease and manages the maintenance of the shared parts of the property.

Need a conveyancing solicitor? Get instant quotes from regulated and reviewed conveyancing solicitors that cover your area.

What is a good remaining lease length?

A good remaining lease length is 99 years or longer if you’re buying a leasehold property. However, while a lease of over 80 years is considered a long lease, many mortgage lenders won’t lend on properties if the lease is less than 80 years. And under the current rules, the cost of extending a lease that’s under 80 years can increase substantially due to marriage value – read on for more on this.

Government changes affecting leaseholders 2025

When considering what happens when a leasehold expires, it’s important to note the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act became law in 2024 but it hasn’t come fully into effect yet.

Once it is fully in effect, the Act will strengthen existing consumer rights and introduce new ones for leaseholders including by:

• Making it cheaper for some leaseholders to extend their lease or buy their freehold. The original intention of the legislation is for leaseholders to pay less, but this may not be the case for everyone. Those with a short lease (less than 80 years) should find their lease extensions cheaper once the relevant part of the Act is in force and marriage value is abolished. However, while this is positive news for leaseholders, it’s highly contentious for freeholders and legal proceedings have been launched to challenge this in the courts.
• Increasing the standard lease extension term to 990 years for houses and flats (up from 50 years in houses and 90 years in flats), so leaseholders have the right to more secure ownership without the hassle and expense of future lease extensions.

But while the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act commits to making leasehold extensions cheaper and easier there is work to be done to make this a reality. For more details including what else is included in the Act see our guide Leasehold reform: What you need to know

Want to know if you should extend your lease now? Book a free, no-obligation consultation with our leasehold expert partners today.

Avoiding a leasehold expiry

You’ll want to avoid a leasehold expiry. But with the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act set to make it in most cases easier and cheaper to extend your lease or buy the freehold, you may be deliberating what to do and when.

What you might choose to do will depend on factors like your lease length and your circumstances. For example:

• Lease length: 80 to 82 years – It’s almost certainly advisable to extend. It’s unlikely that the reforms will be through before your lease drops below the “80-year mark” at which marriage value currently kicks in. There is no guarantee that it will be cheaper in the future than it is for you now.
• Want to move or remortgage and the current lease is an issue: Probably best to extend. 
• Lease is above 82 years – It’s up to you: it is likely be made cheaper by the reforms, but it might also made more expensive. If you’re comfortably over the threshold, say 100 years, you could wait to see what reforms come.
• Ground rent is above 0.1% of your property value (or rises to that level in the future): Consider waiting because it may be made cheaper for you in the future if the 0.1% cap applies to your lease.
• Lease below 80 years: Again, you should consider waiting as it might be made cheaper for you in the future given abolition of marriage value.

However, everyone’s personal circumstances are different. So getting expert leasehold advice is recommended.

How much does it cost to extend a lease?

The cost of extending a lease depends on:

• the value of the property
• the number of years left on the lease
• the annual ground rent
• the value of improvements done to the property paid by the leaseholder
• external factors such as expected rate of returns on investments.

The lease extension valuation is a complex calculation, but also a subjective one which means it is open to negotiation – or decision by a tribunal.

To get an idea instantly of how much it may cost to extend a lease under the current system use our Leasehold extension calculator.  However, to get a more accurate figure, get a free initial consultation and estimate from our leasehold specialist partners.

What are the problems of a short lease?

As the lease gets shorter, the property’s value decreases and may be harder to sell. Many lenders won’t lend on flats with a lease already below the 80-year mark. And even if you can get a mortgage to buy now you might not be able to remortgage to a good rate in the future without extending the lease. Future buyers may struggle to get a mortgage too.

Marriage value

Also, under the current rules, if the lease is under 80 years, you’ll also have to pay 50% of the marriage value of the property. The marriage value is the amount of extra value which will be added to the property as a result of extending the lease. Although this won’t be an issue once the relevant part of the Act is in force and marriage value is abolished.

Find more information on this in our guide getting a mortgage on a leasehold property.

How can you extend the leasehold?

If you want to extend the leasehold and not wait for any potential leasehold reforms, there are 6 steps to follow:

1. Informing the freeholder of your desire to extend the lease and that you will be pursuing the statutory route. If you have an absent freeholder, see our guide on what your options are.
2. Appoint a lease extension solicitor with expertise in the field and who is a member of the Association of Lease Extension Practitioners (ALEP). Get quotes and compare costs. Our partner lease extension solicitors provide advice you can rely on.
3. Find a valuation surveyor with expertise in leasehold extension legislation and the local property market. Some solicitors, including our partnered firm Bonallack and Bishop, can put you in touch with surveyors they trust.
4. Make a formal offer. You will have to serve tenants’ notice – your solicitor will able to take care of this.
5. Pay the deposit if one is required by the landlord. This will either be £250, or 10% of the lease cost in the tenants’ notice, if that exceeds £250.  If the landlord does require a deposit, this will have to be paid within 14 days, so it’s important to have this money readily available.
6. Negotiate a price. Your solicitor will advise or can handle this.

Find more information in Lease extension process: A step-by-step guide.

Get FREE initial telephone advice and a FREE ESTIMATE of how much your lease extension is likely to cost you

Can a lease be changed by the freeholder?

No, a lease can only be changed with the agreement of both the freeholder and leaseholder or in some cases the terms of the lease can be changed in an application to the court or tribunal.

What is the 20-year lease rule?

Under the 20-year lease rule, if a lease has less than 80 years remaining on it when it’s first granted, and the term of the lease is for more than 21 years, the leaseholder has the right to extend the lease for an extra 90 years, at a cost.

However, the 20 year lease rule doesn’t apply to properties such as some rent-controlled flats and flats in National Trust properties.

What is a 999-year lease?

A 999-year lease is a type of long lease that grants the leaseholder the right to occupy the property for 999 years.

Buying the freehold

While leasehold reform aims to make buying the freehold easier, you can still do it under the current system providing you meet certain requirements. Find out more in our guide Should I buy the freehold?

Our lease extension specialist partners can provide a free estimate and advice you can rely on.

Should you buy a leasehold property?

The decision to buy any property is often out of your hands as most flats are sold leasehold. But before buying a leasehold property you should consider a number of issues including:

• Having to budget for leasehold charges such as service charges and ground rent to be paid to the freeholder. These charges can also increase.

• Need to get permission from the freeholder for building works on your home, and the fact you may need to pay additional fees for alterations.
• Your lease could come with restrictions on how you use your home including banning sub-letting, pets or running a business from the property.
• It can be harder to sell a flat with a short lease – 85 years or less typically.

Find out more in our guide on Buying a leasehold property.

Do leasehold properties lose value over time?

If a property has less than 80 years left before its lease expires it is known as a short lease. At this point the value of your property will usually fall and you’ll find it’s more expensive to extend the lease under the current system.

Frequently Asked Questions