How Long Does a Lease Extension Take?

Answer

As there are many steps involved in extending your lease, it could take anywhere from 2 to 12 months to extend your lease and a further 3 to 12 months for the lease extension to be registered at the Land Registry. 

There is a statutory process that influences how long the lease extension process takes. Firstly, the freeholder should receive the Section 42 notice which is a formal request to extend the lease. They will then have 21 days to request evidence to see that the leaseholder has a legal right to a formal lease extension. 

The freeholder then has 2 months from the date of the Section 42 notice to respond and serve their own counter-notice. Once the counter-notice has been served, the leaseholder has 6 months to negotiate the premium cost and if there are any disputes surrounding this, the leaseholder can make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal (LVT) to help decide a price. However, if the freeholder and leaseholder have agreed on a premium, the process to finalise the extension begins.