If you are buying a flat in Mayfair, Knightsbridge, Kensington or almost anywhere else in prime London, you are very likely buying a lease. Leasehold reform has been promised since at least 2021, and an Act was passed in 2024, so it is easy to assume the old rules no longer apply. For the most part, they still do. Getting this wrong can cost a buyer a great deal, in either direction.
Why lease length still matters
The owner of a qualifying flat has a statutory right to a lease extension under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. The new lease runs for 90 years beyond the existing term, at a peppercorn ground rent. The price, called the premium, is set by a valuation formula, and one element of that formula is the reason buyers watch the 80-year mark so closely.
That element is marriage value: broadly, the increase in the flat's value that the extension unlocks. Under the 1993 Act, where the unexpired term is more than 80 years, marriage value is treated as nil. Where it is 80 years or less, it is included and the landlord takes 50% of it. On a valuable flat, that can add substantially to the cost of extending. A lease with 82 years left and one with 78 years left are, in practice, quite different purchases.
What has changed
One reform from the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 is in force and matters to buyers. Since 31 January 2025, a flat owner no longer needs to have owned the flat for two years before claiming a statutory lease extension. In practical terms, a buyer can start the statutory process as soon as the purchase completes, rather than waiting two years while the lease shortens.
What has not happened yet
The two changes most often reported as done are not yet law in practice. Section 36 of the 2024 Act, which replaces the valuation rules and is the route to abolishing marriage value, has not been brought into force. Nor has the change allowing extensions of 990 years rather than 90. Both are on the statute book, but they await commencement, and the valuation rates that would sit beneath them have not been set.
A separate draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, published in January 2026, would cap existing ground rents at £250 a year, falling to a peppercorn after 40 years. It is a draft bill. It has not been passed, and its final form could differ.
The sensible position for a buyer is to price a flat on the law as it stands. If reform arrives, it may help; an offer that already assumes it is a bet, not a valuation.
What to check before you offer
Ask for the unexpired term of the lease, exactly, and work out what it will be on the day you expect to complete. Ask what the ground rent is and how it rises, because some leases contain reviews that can make a flat harder to sell or finance. Read the service charge accounts and budget for the last few years, and ask about planned major works and the reserve fund. Find out who manages the building and how the freeholder deals with leaseholders.
If the lease is near or below 80 years, get an estimate of the extension premium from a specialist valuer before you agree a price, and ask your solicitor how the extension would be handled around completion. Mortgage lenders have their own requirements on lease length, so check those early if you are borrowing.
None of this is legal advice, and a solicitor experienced in leasehold should review the lease in full. What we would say from the selling side is that the flats that sell smoothly are the ones where these questions are answered before a buyer has to ask them.
If you are selling a leasehold flat
The same points apply in reverse. A seller who knows the unexpired term, has the service charge history to hand and has taken a view on whether to extend before marketing gives a buyer less reason to discount. Dolce Vita sells and lets property across the UK from Mayfair, and helps clients buy abroad through partner agencies. If you would like a view on your own flat, Request a valuation; we acknowledge the same working day and return a written valuation within 24 to 48 hours.
Hanane Dawson, Founder
Sources: Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, section 56 and Schedule 13 (legislation.gov.uk). Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, sections 33 and 36 (legislation.gov.uk, not yet in force). The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 (Commencement No. 2 and Transitional Provision) Regulations 2025, SI 2025/57. MHCLG, Leasehold toolkit: England (gov.uk, updated 30 July 2026). Draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, January 2026.