Havering Lease Extension Solicitors & Surveyors

In most cases, yes. Unlike many London boroughs, Havering did not transfer its housing to a housing association. Management was handled for a period by Homes in Havering, an arm’s length company, but that came back in house in 2012 and the council has remained the freeholder throughout.

We always check the freehold title at HM Land Registry before serving a notice, because a Section 42 notice served on the wrong party is not valid.

Possibly not straight away. The council’s joint venture with Wates Residential covers sites such as Waterloo and Queen Street in Romford and Farnham and Hilldene in Harold Hill, and several other sites have been paused or are under review. If the council later needs to buy your flat, compensation is based on its market value, and the length of your lease feeds into that value.

Talk to us first. We will look at where your block sits in the programme and set out the figures either way.

A 125 year lease granted in 1988 has about 87 years left today and will fall below 80 years in the early 2030s. Once that happens, marriage value is added to the premium, and it can be a significant sum.

The valuation date is fixed on the day the Section 42 notice is served. Serving while you still have more than 80 years left keeps marriage value out of the calculation, even if the negotiation runs on after the lease passes that mark.

Because the premium is a share of the value the freeholder gives up, it rises and falls with what your flat is worth. With identical leases, a flat worth £450,000 in Upminster will produce a noticeably larger premium than one worth £280,000 in Harold Hill.

That is why we value each flat on evidence from its own street, block or estate rather than using a borough-wide figure. Using the wrong comparables is one of the easiest ways to overpay.

This is common in Hornchurch, Elm Park and Collier Row. Your statutory right to a lease extension is the same whoever the freeholder is, so you can serve a Section 42 notice on a private individual just as you would on a company or the council.

Many neighbours prefer to agree terms informally first, and that can work well. We can value the extension, advise on a fair figure and, if talks stall, move to the formal route so your rights are protected.

Yes. Under the 1993 Act the leaseholder pays the landlord’s reasonable costs of the valuation and the legal work involved in granting the new lease. The council will usually instruct its own valuer and lawyers, and their reasonable fees are added to your bill.

We check that the figures claimed are reasonable and query anything that looks excessive. Costs incurred by the landlord in a tribunal hearing are not normally recoverable from you in the same way.

Yes. Once the Section 42 notice has been served, the benefit of it can be assigned to your buyer on completion. Your buyer takes over the claim and keeps the valuation date your notice has already fixed.

This is a useful route for short lease flats, because many lenders will not lend on a lease with fewer than 80 or 85 years left. Your buyer’s solicitor will want to see the notice and any counter-notice, which Arcadia Law can provide.

Not any more. The rule that a leaseholder had to own the flat for two years before using the statutory route was abolished on 31 January 2025 by the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024.

That means you can start the process as soon as you complete your purchase, which helps if you have just bought a flat with a shortening lease and want to fix the valuation date before the term drops further.