In most cases the answer depends on two things: how close you are to 80 years, and whether you need to sell or remortgage soon. If you have 80 to 82 years left, or a sale or remortgage is coming up, waiting is risky because the reforms have no start date. With 90+ years left and no plans to move, waiting a while costs little. Under 80, waiting is a bet on timing that you should only make with professional advice.
Key takeaways
- As of 30 October 2026, marriage value is still payable under 80 years. Practitioners expect the new rules in 2027 at best, more likely 2028.
- 80-82 years: LEASE and HomeOwners Alliance both say extending is "almost certainly advisable".
- Selling or remortgaging within about 12 months: lender and buyer requirements usually decide the timing for you, not the reforms.
- 90+ years, no move planned: waiting a few years is unlikely to cost much.
- Withdrawing a Section 42 notice costs money and stops you serving a new one for 12 months, so decide before you serve.
Should I extend my lease now or wait for the reforms?
People were already "waiting for changes to lease extension rules" in 2019 (MSE forum), and the valuation changes are still not in force (see our leasehold reform tracker). LEASE, the government-funded advice service, says "it is hard to give a definitive answer" (LEASE). A September 2026 article for mortgage brokers warns that "'Wait for reform' should not become default advice" (Mortgage Solutions). Practitioners mostly look at four things:
- Years left on the lease, and how soon you'll reach 80.
- Sale or remortgage plans in roughly the next 12 months.
- Ground rent: how high it is and whether it doubles. The reforms propose counting ground rent at no more than 0.1% of the freehold value in the calculation (Howes Percival).
- Whether you can pay the premium and fees now.
Decision matrix: years left × sale plans × ground rent
| Years left | No sale/remortgage planned | Sale or remortgage within ~12 months | High or doubling ground rent |
|---|---|---|---|
| 90+ | Low urgency. MSE says waiting a few years is unlikely to cut value much (MSE) | Check the buyer's or lender's requirements. One forum seller's sale fell through at 88 years (MSE forum) | Get advice. The proposed 0.1% cap could reduce this part of the price later, but it isn't law |
| 83-89 | Start considering options. MSE suggests "ideally around 83 years"; HOA says above 82 "you could wait to see what reforms come" (HOA) | Lean towards acting, or serving a notice that a buyer can take over | Weigh the uncertain reform saving against how many years you have before 80 |
| 80-82 | Extending is "almost certainly advisable" (LEASE; HOA) | Act now: dropping below 80 adds marriage value and can hurt the sale | Act now. The cliff usually outweighs the ground rent question |
| Under 80 | HOA says "You may decide to wait", but nobody knows when or by how much prices will change | You may have to act. MSE says mortgages get harder below 70 years | Get specialist valuation advice on both scenarios |
Treat this as a framework, not a verdict. Leases vary and lending policies differ (Mortgage Solutions).
What is the 80-year cliff, and how much does crossing it cost?
Marriage value is the extra value created when your lease is extended. While your lease has 80 years or more, you pay none of it. Once it drops below 80, you currently pay the freeholder 50% of it (HouseCheckup). MSE notes: "It's in the interest of a freeholder to let your lease drop below 80 years (even by just a day)" (MSE).
How a statutory premium is built:
- Ground rent loss: the value today of the ground rent the freeholder gives up, worked out using a capitalisation rate.
- Reversion: the value today of the freeholder getting the flat back when the lease ends, worked out using a deferment rate (currently 5% for flats, per LEASE).
- Marriage value, only under 80 years: the value after extension, minus the value before it and the freeholder's current interest. You pay half.
Illustrative figures. The table below uses estimates published by MoneySavingExpert (which credits Homehold) for a 90-year statutory extension. We only calculated the differences. These are not quotes. Your premium depends on your lease, ground rent, flat value and the valuer's assumptions.
| Flat value | Premium at 85 years | Premium at 79 years | Jump from 85 to 79 years |
|---|---|---|---|
| £200,000 | £5,500 | £13,000 | +£7,500 |
| £500,000 | £10,500 | £30,500 | +£20,000 |
Source figures: MSE, updated 17 August 2026. The difference column is our arithmetic. Professional fees (MSE budgets about £4,000) come on top.
Most of the jump is the marriage value that starts below 80, not the six lost years. MSE also notes that at 81 or 82 years, costs can still rise by "hundreds or thousands of pounds" each year.
The rates matter as well. Government modelling for a £250,000 flat with 80 years left puts the reversion element at £5,044 at 5%, £10,846 at 4% and £2,363 at 6% (Mortgage Solutions). So waiting for the reforms only pays off if the government picks rates that favour leaseholders. It hasn't decided yet, and the official modelling ran "from 1.61% to 6.3%" (Property118).
What does waiting actually cost me?
Waiting isn't free, even if the premium eventually falls:
- Each year the lease gets shorter. In MSE's estimates, a £500,000 flat costs £8,300 to extend at 90 years and £10,500 at 85 years.
- Timing risk. If you need to sell during the wait, the lease length is still the buyer's problem, and so it's yours too. A Property118 commenter (Sept 2026) said a lender "will require a lease extension to 99, 125 or 999 years" on a remortgage (Property118).
- The process takes time. Forum users report 6 to 18 months from start to finish (MSE forum), so leave enough room before any deadline. The case for waiting is strongest when you have plenty of years left, no plans to move, and a high ground rent that the proposed 0.1% cap might reduce.
How much does it cost to withdraw a Section 42 notice?
If you serve a Section 42 notice (the formal start of a statutory extension) and then stop to wait for the reforms, you:
- pay the freeholder's reasonable legal and valuation costs up to the date you withdraw (Osbornes Law), on top of your own fees;
- can't serve a new notice for 12 months (Osbornes Law);
- lose the protection of the notice. MSE notes that "the clock stops ticking once you serve notice", so after you withdraw, your next claim will be based on a shorter lease.
A notice can also be treated as withdrawn if deadlines are missed, for example if nobody applies to the tribunal within six months of the freeholder's counter-notice (Osbornes Law).
Illustrative cost of withdrawing. This uses the fee ranges HomeOwners Alliance published in October 2026, and assumes all the work has been done before you withdraw:
| Item | Range (HOA, Oct 2026) |
|---|---|
| Freeholder's solicitor | £800-£1,300 |
| Freeholder's valuer | £600-£900 |
| Your solicitor | £800-£1,300 |
| Your valuer | £600-£900 |
| Total (our arithmetic) | £2,800-£4,400 |
Source: HomeOwners Alliance. These ranges are indicative. Actual costs depend on how far the case has gone and your firm's terms, so ask for a written quote.
Decision tree: a quick self-check
- Is your lease under 83 years, or will it be within 2-3 years?
- Yes → get a valuation now. At 80-82, sources say extend.
- No → go to the next question.
- Are you selling or remortgaging within about 12 months?
- Yes → ask the lender or your conveyancer what term they need. Ask a solicitor about serving a notice that a buyer can take over.
- No → go to the next question.
- Is your ground rent high or does it double?
- Yes → ask a valuer to price it now and under the proposed 0.1% cap.
- No → with 90+ years left, waiting is lower risk. Check the reform tracker each quarter.
- Has the freeholder made an informal offer? Compare it with the statutory route before you decide (see our cost guide).
FAQ
Should I wait for the reforms to be implemented? Only if your lease is comfortably above 80 years and you don't need to sell or remortgage soon. No commencement date has been published, and practitioners talk about 2027 at best and more likely 2028. LEASE says it can't give a definitive answer and recommends advice from a leasehold practitioner.
Does the length of my lease make a difference? Yes, more than anything else. At 80-82 years, LEASE and HOA say extending is almost certainly advisable. Above about 83 years you have more room, and below 80 you already pay marriage value.
Should I extend before the lease hits 80 years? If you're likely to extend at some point, the sources agree it's usually cheaper to complete or serve notice before 80. MSE's estimates show the premium for a £500,000 flat jumping from £10,500 at 85 years to £30,500 at 79.
Can I sell and let the buyer finish the extension? Forum users mention a seller starting the statutory process and the buyer completing it. Osbornes Law says the benefit of a Section 42 notice can be assigned to a buyer on sale. Ask your conveyancer to check this is done correctly.
Will the reforms make a lease extension cheaper? Possibly, but not for everyone. LEASE says "we cannot say for certain yet that every leaseholder will be better off". It depends on the deferment and capitalisation rates the government sets after the consultation that closed on 21 October 2026.
I'm a landlord with several unextended flats. Does the same logic apply? Yes, but the sums are larger. In one September 2026 Property118 thread, a freeholder valued six extensions at £415k and offered the freehold for £311,250. Group deals need their own advice.
Next steps
Before you contact a solicitor or valuer, gather your exact lease start date and term, the ground rent and how it increases, and your sale or remortgage plans. Our free Prepare a lease extension quote brief checklist helps you do this privately, and Compare statutory and informal routes shows what each option gives you.
More reading: Section 42 notice explained · Lease extension process timeline
Important: this is not legal or financial advice. Lease Extension Compass is independent, not a law firm, and doesn't accept paid rankings. The figures above are illustrative and come from published estimates dated 2026. They are not valuations. Get advice from a qualified leasehold solicitor and an RICS valuer before serving, withdrawing or accepting anything.
Sources
- Lease extension and leasehold reforms – LEASE (updated 27 Jan 2026)
- Consultation on leasehold valuation rates – LEASE
- Extend your lease – MoneySavingExpert (updated 17 Aug 2026)
- Leasehold reform guide – HomeOwners Alliance (updated 21 Oct 2026)
- Lease extension costs – HomeOwners Alliance (updated 22 Oct 2026)
- Extend now or wait? The short-lease dilemma – Mortgage Solutions (9 Sept 2026)
- Deferment-rate scenarios and extend-now advice – Property118 (updated 6 Oct 2026)
- Landlord thread on unextended flats – Property118 (15 Sept 2026)
- Update on leasehold reforms, July 2026 – Howes Percival
- What is a Section 42 notice? – Osbornes Law (updated 14 Aug 2026)
- Marriage value in lease extensions – HouseCheckup (5 Jul 2026)
- "Extending a lease" – MSE forum (Dec 2025)
- "Extending a short lease, pros and cons" – MSE forum (2019)
- "Leasehold extension after purchase" – MSE forum (2023)
General information, not legal advice. Rules and deadlines can change by jurisdiction. Check current laws and consult an appropriately qualified professional before acting.
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