Anyone who owns a leasehold flat in England and Wales (provided that they have been the registered owner for at least 2 years) has the legal right to buy an extension of their lease.
How long is the extension for ?
If you extend your lease under the provisions of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (‘the 1993 Act’) then your new lease will have the following features:
- Your new lease will be 90 years longer than it currently is (i.e. the existing lease will have an extra 90 years added to it – for instance, if your lease is currently 72 years long the new lease will be 162 years long)
- You will no longer pay ground rent to the freeholder. This is sometimes called a ‘peppercorn’ – a zero, or ‘nil’ ground rent (i.e. nothing to pay).