Lease Extensions & Freehold Purchase
A short lease costs money every year it is left short, and the cost accelerates. This is the one piece of leasehold housekeeping that gets more expensive by waiting.
Why Lease Length Matters More Than It Looks
A lease is a wasting asset. As the unexpired term falls, the premium payable to extend it rises, and it rises fastest around the point where marriage value historically became payable. Lenders also become progressively less willing, which affects saleability well before the lease becomes short in any absolute sense.
The statutory route for a flat is a claim under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. Collective enfranchisement, where the leaseholders together buy the freehold, is under the same Act.
Where We Fit, and Where We Do Not
This is a process with a valuer and a solicitor at the centre of it, and we are neither. What we do is the administrative side: the information the process needs from the management records, the notices and consents that pass through the management company, the membership and share administration where the freehold is acquired by a company the leaseholders form, and the coordination between the parties.
We say plainly where a specialist is required rather than taking on work we are not the right people to do. The valuation in particular is not an administrative exercise and should never be treated as one.
What We Charge for Our Part
Our fees cover the administration that runs through the management company, not the legal or valuation work.
| Service | Fee |
|---|---|
| Deed of variation administration | £96.00 |
| Certificate of compliance | £150.00 |
| RMC or RTM membership application | £150.00 |
| Share certificate | £90.00 |
| New freeholder registration | £150.00 |
Taken from our published Additional Services price list, PBM Form #01-27 rev.6, effective 23 June 2025. All fees quoted are inclusive of VAT.
Reform, and Why Not to Wait for It
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 changes parts of this regime, but the valuation and term provisions are not all in force and no commencement date has been announced for some of them. Anyone deciding whether to act now or wait should take advice on their own lease rather than on a general expectation about the law changing.
What is certain is that the unexpired term keeps falling in the meantime.
Where We Do This
From our Plymouth office, across Devon, Cornwall and the wider South West. Each area page sets out the authority, the fire and rescue service and the local building stock.
Common Questions
How Long Should Our Lease Be?
Long enough that lenders are comfortable and the premium to extend has not started to accelerate. Leaseholders generally act well before the term becomes short in absolute terms, because the cost of extending rises as the term falls.
Do We Need a Valuer and a Solicitor?
For a statutory lease extension or a collective enfranchisement, yes. The premium is a valuation exercise and the notices are legal documents with strict requirements. Our role is the administration that runs through the management company alongside them.
What Is Collective Enfranchisement?
The right of qualifying leaseholders in a block to buy the freehold together, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. It is different from Right to Manage, which transfers management without transferring ownership.
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