Can I sell a flat with a short lease?

Yes, but the buyer pool shrinks with the lease. Below about 70 years mortgages become substantially more expensive or unavailable, and under 60 years a flat is close to unmortgageable — which usually means selling to a cash buyer, at auction or to a company like us, at a price reflecting the extension cost.

Why does a lease under 80 years matter so much?

At 80 years marriage value switches on: the freeholder is entitled to half the uplift in value that extending creates, which sharply raises the cost. On MoneySavingExpert's worked example of a £200,000 flat, extending costs roughly £8,500 at 90 years but about £17,000 at 79 years, £23,500 at 70 and £32,000 at 60.

Should I wait for leasehold reform instead of selling?

As at August 2026, only the abolition of the two-year ownership rule is in force. The abolition of marriage value is in law but not implemented, freeholders have permission to appeal, and the best independent estimate is that the changes are unlikely to take effect before late 2028 at the very earliest. Waiting is a gamble on timing, not a plan — and the lease gets shorter while you wait.

Short lease · England & Wales

Every year you wait, the flat is worth less and the extension costs more.

Below 80 years the lease starts working against you — and the freeholder is in no hurry, because the clock pays them. Here's the cliff on one chart, the honest state of leasehold reform, and the three ways out.

80 yearsthe cliff — one day below it and marriage value switches on: the freeholder takes half the uplift your extension creates (MoneySavingExpert)

£8.5k → £32kwhat extending roughly costs on a £200,000 flat at 90 vs 60 years remaining — MSE's worked example, not our quote

Late 2028the earliest independent estimate for the reform that would abolish marriage value actually taking effect (Homehold, Aug 2026)

The 80-year cliff, on one chart

Tap a lease length. The bars are MoneySavingExpert's worked example of what extending costs on a £200,000 flat — an illustration of the shape, not a quote for your flat.

190 years — the cheap side of the cliff

Mortgageable, sellable, and extending costs around £8,500 on the worked example. If your lease is here, you have options and time — extend soon, before the cliff, or sell normally. Honestly: you probably don't need us yet, and we'll say so on the phone.

279 years — one day past the cliff, the price doubled

Below 80, marriage value switches on: the freeholder is entitled to half the uplift the extension creates, and the same extension now costs around £17,000. As MSE puts it, "it's in the interest of a freeholder to let your lease drop below 80 years (even by just a day)." Most lenders still lend here, but buyers start negotiating hard.

370 years — the lending squeeze

Around £23,500 to extend, and this is where mortgages get substantially more expensive or unavailable — lenders typically want the lease to outlast the mortgage by 30 to 40 years, and the maths stops working. Your buyer pool is now shrinking with every year that passes.

460 years — cash buyers only

Roughly £32,000 to extend, and MoneySavingExpert calls flats here "virtually un-mortgageable and unsellable" on the open market. That doesn't mean worthless — it means the realistic buyers are cash: investors, auction bidders, and companies like us, at prices that absorb the extension cost.

Figures: MoneySavingExpert, "Extend your lease" — their worked example on a £200,000 flat; every real quote depends on the flat, the ground rent and the freeholder. Lending thresholds via ValuQ and Property Solvers.

"I'll wait for leasehold reform" — the honest status

You may have read in 2024 that marriage value was being abolished and extensions were about to get much cheaper. Here is where that actually stands, checked August 2026: only one provision of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 is in force — the removal of the two-year ownership rule, since early 2025. The abolition of marriage value is in law but not implemented. Freeholder groups challenged the Act; the High Court dismissed their case in October 2025, but they have permission to appeal. Implementation is now tied to a further Bill, a valuation-rates consultation runs until September 2026, and the best independent estimate is that the changes are "unlikely to be in effect until late 2028 at the very earliest."

What that means practically: if your lease is at 82 years, extending or selling before the cliff still beats waiting. If it's at 75, three more years of waiting costs you real money whether reform lands or not — the lease shortens either way, and nobody can promise you 2028. Waiting is a gamble on court timetables and parliamentary drafting. A sale on a date you choose is not.

Status sources: HomeOwners Alliance, leasehold reform guide · Homehold, August 2026. Last reviewed August 2026 — this changes; check the sources before relying on it.

Your three honest routes

And one warning before any of them: if your mortgage is close to or above the flat's short-lease value, a discounted sale may be impossible — the sale has to clear what you owe. Talk to your lender before you talk to anyone like us.

Extend first, then sell normally

The statutory route: serve notice, pay the premium, sell a long-lease flat at full market value. Since early 2025 there's no two-year ownership wait. If you can fund the premium and the professional fees, and you can wait out the process, this usually recovers the most money.

The premium (see the chart) plus your valuer's and solicitor's fees and usually the freeholder's — and months you may not have, with the price only fixed at the end of a negotiation.

Sell short on the open market or at auction

Short-lease flats do sell — mostly to investors who price like accountants: your flat's long-lease value, minus the full extension cost, minus their margin and hassle. Auctions are liquid for these, especially in London, and can genuinely be the right call for a very short lease in a strong location.

Months of marketing to a thin buyer pool, mortgage buyers falling away at survey, no certainty on the date — and at auction, no guarantee of meeting the reserve.

Sell to us with the lease as it is

We buy without a mortgage, so the lending thresholds that empty your buyer pool don't apply to us. Tell us the years remaining — the offer is made knowing the lease, and it won't shrink when a survey reads it. Since the two-year rule went, we can start the extension ourselves the day we own it, which is exactly why we can buy cleanly.

The price is below the flat's long-lease value — 65–82% of its realistic short-lease value depending on the date you choose, shown before you give us anything.

The certain route: a date in writing, £500 a day on us if we're late, and no buyer's lender to say no at week nine.

The questions short-lease owners ask

My freeholder quoted far more than these figures. Is that normal?

Common, unfortunately. The chart shows a worked example on a £200,000 flat; real premiums depend on your flat's value, the exact years remaining and the ground rent — and an opening quote from a freeholder is an opening quote. A statutory extension with your own valuer usually lands lower than an informal offer. If the number still doesn't work, that's what the other two routes are for.

Doesn't the lease problem just become yours when you buy?

Yes — and that's the deal, priced openly. We take on the extension cost, the freeholder negotiation and the wait, and the price we pay you reflects that. You're not tricking us and we're not doing you a favour: it's an exchange of certainty for discount, with both numbers on the table.

My ground rent doubles every ten years. Does that change things?

Tell us — it matters. Escalating ground rent can be a second lending blocker on top of the lease length, and it changes the extension premium too. Disclose it in the form: like everything you tell us up front, it's priced in from the start and protected by the price promise.

I'm in negative equity on the short-lease value. Can you still buy?

Not at a discount that leaves you owing money you don't have — no honest cash buyer can, and be careful with anyone who says otherwise. Your first call is your lender: some will discuss assisted sales or shortfall arrangements. Free advice from Citizens Advice or MoneyHelper before any decision. If the sums do clear, we're here.

Get a figure that already knows the lease

There's no obligation and nothing to sign. We'll give you a figure in writing, with our reasoning, and you can take it to anyone you like before you decide.

Or call us: 0191 249 3969 · 8am–8pm, seven days

Leasehold in this sense is an England and Wales system — Scottish flats are owned outright, so this page doesn't apply in Scotland.