Written by the Brady Solicitors Lease Extension Team. Brady Solicitors advises leaseholders, freeholders and managing agents on lease extensions, collective enfranchisement and Right to Manage.
A statutory lease extension runs on a strictly defined timetable. Once the section 42 notice is served, the premium is valued as at that date, the freeholder has a fixed period in which to reply, and every step after that carries a deadline with a consequence attached to missing it. The process is predictable, which is its main advantage over informal negotiation, but it can be unforgiving, which is why the preparation matters more than anything that happens later.
What follows sets out each stage in order, from the valuation that precedes the notice through to registration of the new lease, with the deadline that applies at each point and the mistakes that occur most often.
Step 1: The valuation comes before the notice
The first step is to secure a valuation from a surveyor who works in enfranchisement, not a general residential valuer. The figure that valuation produces goes into the notice as the proposed premium, and it has to be a figure a competent valuer could stand behind. It is an opening position and it will be negotiated, but a premium pitched far below anything defensible may give the freeholder grounds to treat the notice as invalid.
The valuation date is the date the notice is served, which has a practical consequence worth understanding before anyone starts. A lease is a diminishing asset. Under the law currently in force, once the unexpired term falls below 80 years, marriage value enters the calculation and the freeholder becomes entitled to half of the uplift that the extension creates. Crossing that threshold while deciding whether to proceed may change the premium, and no later step in the process reverses it.
Qualification is the other important matter to settle before anything is served. A leaseholder qualifies if they hold a long lease of the property, meaning one originally granted for a term of more than 21 years. Until recently they also had to have been the registered owner for at least 2 years, which stopped anyone who had just bought a flat with a short lease and wanted to deal with it immediately. That requirement was removed on 31 January 2025, so a claim can now be brought from the day the purchase completes. The other changes people may have read about have not yet arrived. The extension remains 90 years added to the unexpired term at a peppercorn ground rent. The 990 year term in the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, and the abolition of marriage value, are both in the Act but neither is in force, and claims served today are valued under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 exactly as before.
Step 2: Service the section 42 notice, and what goes wrong
The statutory process begins when the leaseholder gives a section 42 notice, named after the section of the 1993 Act that creates the right. Nothing said or offered before that point binds either party but everything after it runs to the statutory timetable.
The notice identifies the property and the lease, sets out the terms proposed for the new lease, states the premium offered, and specifies the date by which the freeholder must reply. That date cannot be less than 2 months after the notice is given. The notice must reach the competent freeholder, which is the statutory term for the party against whom the claim is made, and copies go to any other relevant party such as an intermediate leaseholder. Once it is served, the freeholder may require a deposit of 10% of the proposed premium or £250, whichever is the greater.
In our experience, the notices that fail are almost always self-served. We have seen a leaseholder serve their own notice on a local authority freeholder, proposing a premium of around £6,500 on a lease with roughly 20 years left to run. The freeholder rejected it as invalid. Any enfranchisement valuer would have identified the problem on sight, because a lease that short attracts marriage value and a figure of that order could not be supported.
What happens next depends on the freeholder. In that case the leaseholder was offered the opportunity to serve again, without prejudice to the first notice, which allowed the claim to carry on. That is a reasonable response and a common one but it is not guaranteed. Where a freeholder does not agree to a fresh notice and treats the first one as invalid, the leaseholder can find themselves liable for the freeholder’s legal and valuation costs and unable to bring a fresh claim for 12 months. On a lease already near 80 years, that delay may do more damage than the costs, because the premium moves against the leaseholder while the clock runs.
Step 3: The freeholder’s 2 months
A freeholder or managing agent who receives a section 42 notice is on a deadline from the day it arrives. The counter-notice, which the 1993 Act calls the landlord’s counter-notice, must be given by the date stated in the notice and must do one of three things: admit the right and either accept or propose different terms; dispute the right, with reasons; or claim redevelopment grounds, which are only available where the unexpired term was less than 5 years at the date of the notice.
Most counter-notices admit the right and dispute the premium. Where the right is disputed, the freeholder must take the point to the county court within two months. Where no counter-notice is given at all, the leaseholder can apply to the county court for an order granting the new lease on the terms set out in their own notice, which is why the date in the notice deserves immediate attention rather than filing.
Step 4: Negotiation
Once the counter-notice is in, the surveyors negotiate the premium, with most claims settling here without any tribunal involvement.
Step 5: The tribunal, if it is needed
Neither party can apply to the tribunal until two months have passed since the counter-notice, and both lose the right to apply once six months have passed. In England the application goes to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), and in Wales to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. Each side puts in valuation evidence and the tribunal determines the premium.
If the window closes and nobody has applied, the claim is deemed withdrawn. The leaseholder is still liable for the freeholder’s reasonable costs, and cannot serve a fresh notice for 12 months. In practice it is almost always the leaseholder who applies, because a freeholder has little to gain from the claim proceeding.
Step 6: Completion and registration
The new lease is completed on the agreed or determined terms, adding 90 years to the unexpired term and reducing the ground rent to a peppercorn. Where the flat is mortgaged, the lender’s consent is not required. Section 58 of the 1993 Act transfers the existing charge automatically to the new lease, which is one of the practical advantages of the statutory route over a voluntary extension, where consent is needed. The new lease is then registered at HM Land Registry. Registration is administrative rather than contentious, but it is frequently the slowest part of the whole process.
How long it takes, and what causes the delays
A realistic time range, from instructing a valuer to completion is between 8-12 months. An uncontested claim with a responsive freeholder and no complications is likely to sit at the shorter end of that range. Delays typically come from a small number of recurring sources: a freeholder who is difficult to identify or trace, intermediate leases that add another party to every step, tribunal listing times where the premium is genuinely in dispute, and HM Land Registry.
The delays that incur significant costs are the ones that happen before the notice is served, because the valuation date has not yet been fixed and the lease continues to shorten. We do suggest that anyone considering a claim on a lease approaching 80 years obtains a valuation promptly, and takes advice before serving anything.
If you require any advice in relation to a statutory lease extension, whether you are bringing a claim or responding to one, please do get in touch and one of our experts will be happy to help.
Frequently asked questions
What happens if I do not receive a response from the freeholder to my section 42 notice?
If no counter-notice is given by the date specified in your notice, you can apply to the county court for an order granting the new lease on the terms you proposed, including the premium. The application must be made within six months of the date the counter-notice was due. Missing that deadline ends the claim.
Can I withdraw a claim once the notice is served?
Yes, but it carries a cost. A leaseholder who withdraws remains liable for the freeholder’s reasonable costs incurred to that point and cannot serve a fresh notice for 12 months. The same consequences follow where a claim is deemed withdrawn because a deadline has passed.
Should I wait for the 2024 Act reforms before extending?
The valuation provisions of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, including the abolition of marriage value and the 990 year term, are not in force and no commencement date has been set. Waiting means the lease continues to shorten in the meantime. Where a lease is close to 80 years, the cost of waiting is capable of exceeding the saving being waited for, and we suggest taking advice on the specific lease rather than on the general position.
