Extend several leases together with one specialist team of RICS chartered surveyors and SRA regulated solicitors, on discounted fixed fees from three claims.
Free and without obligation.
A group lease extension is where several leaseholders, usually in the same building or estate, extend their leases through the statutory process at the same time using the same advisers. Each flat still has its own claim under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, and each leaseholder receives a new lease with 90 years added to the existing term and a peppercorn (zero) ground rent.
extension.lease is a partnership between Blakes Chartered Surveyors (RICS regulated) and Arcadia Law (SRA regulated). We run group and portfolio lease extensions on discounted fixed fees from three claims, with our lowest rates for groups of ten or more. Each leaseholder in a group has 4 weeks from the group agreement to instruct us and qualify for the group fee. Owners of several flats, RTM companies, residents' associations and informal groups of neighbours can all use the service.
Whether you are an organised committee or a few neighbours who have started talking, we can bring your claims together.
Your Right to Manage company already brings leaseholders together. It cannot extend leases itself, because the right belongs to each leaseholder, but it is often the ideal way to organise a group claim. We work with directors to brief members and coordinate instructions.
Associations on council and housing association estates are well placed to spread the word. Right to Buy leases in the same block were often granted on similar terms, so neighbours tend to reach the 80 year point at around the same time.
No formal body is needed. Three or more leaseholders who want to extend can come to us together, whether you live in a purpose built block, a converted house or flats spread across an estate.
If you own several leasehold flats, you can extend them together on one instruction with a reduced fixed fee per claim, whether the flats are in one building or several. There is no residency requirement, so let and vacant flats qualify too.
A coordinated group claim puts leaseholders in a stronger and more cost effective position than going it alone.
If the freeholder is slow, unreasonable or will not agree fair terms, claims may need to go to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber). Where notices are served within a week or so of each other, the claims can be referred to the Tribunal together and the cost of the application and hearing is spread across the group, so you can hold out for the best terms rather than accept a poor offer.
Flats in the same building share much of the same comparable evidence. We prepare a consistent valuation approach across every claim, so the freeholder cannot negotiate with each leaseholder in isolation or play one settlement off against another.
Group and portfolio claims are priced on a reduced fixed fee per flat, with the lowest rates for ten or more claims. The package is the same as our individual service, so nothing is stripped out to reach the lower price.
Notices are prepared and served together, counter notices arrive on a common timetable and premiums are negotiated with the freeholder's surveyor as a group. You have a single point of contact throughout.
Once a lease falls below 80 years, marriage value becomes payable and the premium rises sharply. Many Right to Buy leases granted in the 1980s now have less than 90 years left, so acting as a group before the threshold can protect a whole block.
Notices do not all have to be served on the same day. Each leaseholder has 4 weeks from the group agreement to instruct us and still qualify for the group fee, and the groundwork already done for the building helps anyone who joins later.
No. We do not insist that every claim in a group starts on the same day to qualify for the group fee. What we ask is that each leaseholder in the group instructs us within 4 weeks of the group agreeing to proceed, so the discount is tied to a genuine group rather than left open ended. Each leaseholder keeps full control of their own claim.
The closer together the notices are served, the more the group can do, particularly when the freeholder is difficult:
Neighbours who are not ready within the 4 weeks can still instruct us later, individually or as part of a new group. Settlements already agreed in the same building are often persuasive evidence when their claim is negotiated.
Most lease extensions settle by agreement, and the overwhelming majority of the cases we handle never reach a hearing. Where a freeholder will not engage or insists on an unrealistic premium, an application to the First-tier Tribunal protects the claims and puts the decision in independent hands.
For a single leaseholder, the cost of that step can be enough to make accepting a poor offer feel like the safer option. For a group whose notices were served within a week or so of each other, the claims can be referred together and the cost divided between everyone taking part, making it far more realistic to press for the fairest outcome.
Talk to us about your buildingEvery claim is covered by one fixed fee for valuation, negotiation and the legal work. The more claims in the group, the lower the fee for each one.
Our standard packaged service for leases with more than 80 years unexpired. Fixed fees are also available for shorter leases.
See full pricingFor owners with three or more flats to extend and for groups of three or more leaseholders, including RTM companies and residents' associations.
Request a group quoteFor larger blocks, estates and organised groups. The best value way to extend, with the biggest saving on professional fees and the widest sharing of any dispute costs.
Request a block quoteTo qualify for a group fee, each leaseholder in the group should instruct us within 4 weeks of the group agreeing to proceed. Fixed fees are also available for leases under 80 years, where marriage value applies, and are quoted per claim. As with our individual service, the lease extension premium itself and the freeholder's reasonable legal and valuation costs are payable by each leaseholder and are not included in our fees. Tribunal representation, if it becomes necessary, is quoted as a separate fixed fee, which can be shared across claims referred to the Tribunal together.
The statutory process is the same as for an individual claim. What changes is the coordination, which we handle for you.
Send us the building address and the flats interested, or ask your committee to. We check eligibility, lease terms and remaining years, and confirm which fee tier applies.
We explain the process, likely costs and timetable so every leaseholder can decide with the facts in front of them. Each leaseholder then has 4 weeks to instruct us for their own flat at the group fee.
Blakes prepares an RICS valuation for each flat, normally on a desktop basis using floor or lease plans, because the law requires the flat to be valued disregarding tenant's improvements.
Arcadia Law prepares and serves a Section 42 notice for each claim, coordinated so the freeholder's counter notices come back on a common timetable.
We negotiate the premiums with the freeholder or their surveyor using one consistent body of evidence. If agreement cannot be reached, claims served within a week or so of each other can be referred to the Tribunal together, sharing the cost.
Each new lease is completed with 90 years added and a peppercorn ground rent, then registered at HM Land Registry. A typical statutory claim takes 6 to 12 months.
These three routes are often confused. They do different things, and many buildings use more than one over time.
| Group lease extension | Collective enfranchisement | Right to Manage | |
|---|---|---|---|
| What you get | A new lease for each participating flat with 90 years added | The leaseholders buy the freehold of the building together | Control of the building's management, not ownership |
| Who must take part | Any number of qualifying leaseholders, each with their own claim | At least half the flats in the building | An RTM company whose members include at least half the flats |
| Ground rent | Reduced to a peppercorn on each extended lease | Payable to the leaseholders' own freehold company | Unchanged |
| Lease length | 90 years added on completion | Not changed automatically; longer leases can be granted afterwards | Unchanged |
| Freehold | Stays with the current freeholder | Owned by the participating leaseholders | Stays with the current freeholder |
| Find out more | See our group fees | Collective enfranchisement with Blakes Chartered Surveyors | Right to Manage advice from Arcadia Law |
Not sure which route suits your building? We advise on lease extensions and collective freehold purchases, so we can compare both for you. Ask us for a view.
We act for groups of leaseholders and portfolio owners in every London borough, across the South East and throughout England. Our team has dealt with every type of freeholder, from London borough councils and housing associations to private individuals and large investment companies.
Ex-council blocks are particularly well suited to group claims. The original Right to Buy leases in a block were usually granted for 125 years on similar terms, so whole buildings approach the 80 year threshold together and face the same council freeholder.
“Blakes accurately valued and successfully negotiated 3 lease extensions on my behalf with Sutton Council that were approaching 80 years.”Jonathan Rogers, Google review
Specific client references from group claims we have handled across London are available on request.
A group lease extension is where several leaseholders, usually in the same building or estate, extend their leases under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 at the same time using the same surveyors and solicitors. Each flat has its own statutory claim and its own new lease, but the valuations, notices and negotiations are coordinated so the group benefits from shared evidence, lower fees and shared dispute costs.
Not directly. The right to a statutory lease extension belongs to each individual leaseholder, so every participating leaseholder instructs us and has a Section 42 notice served for their own flat. An RTM company or residents' association is, however, an excellent way to organise a group, share information and agree a common approach. We can work with the committee or directors to coordinate the claims.
No. Notices do not all have to be served on the same day, but to qualify for the group fee we ask each leaseholder in the group to instruct us within 4 weeks of the group agreeing to proceed. Where application dates fall within a week or so of each other, the claims run on a closely aligned timetable, and if the freeholder is difficult they can be referred to the First-tier Tribunal together so the cost is shared. Leaseholders who are not ready within the 4 weeks can still instruct us later, and settlements already agreed in the building will often help their claims.
Discounted fixed fees apply from three claims, whether that is three leaseholders in a group or one owner extending three or more flats, with our lowest fixed fee per claim for groups of ten or more. To qualify, each claim should be instructed within 4 weeks of the group agreeing to proceed. Contact us with the number of flats involved and we will confirm the fee for your group.
Each leaseholder has 4 weeks from the date the group agrees to proceed to instruct us and qualify for the group fee. This keeps the discount tied to a genuine group rather than leaving it open ended. Neighbours who decide later can still instruct us, individually or as part of a new group.
Yes. Owners who instruct three or more lease extension claims within 4 weeks of each other qualify for a discounted fixed fee per claim, whether the flats are in the same building or in different buildings. There is no requirement to live in the flats, so let and vacant properties qualify.
Usually, yes. Our professional fee per claim is lower for groups of three or more and lowest for ten or more. If claims served within a week or so of each other need to go to the First-tier Tribunal, they can be referred together and the cost of the application and any hearing shared, rather than paid by one leaseholder. The premium for each flat is still calculated individually, but a coordinated negotiation backed by consistent evidence puts the group in a stronger position to secure fair terms.
Yes. Under the 1993 Act each leaseholder is responsible for the freeholder's reasonable legal and valuation costs for their own claim, in addition to the premium. Where many claims run together, the freeholder's advisers deal with overlapping work, and we take that into account when reviewing the costs claimed on each claim.
Those flats can still be included. Leases under 80 years attract marriage value, which makes the premium higher and the valuation more involved, so we quote a fixed fee for those claims separately. They still count towards the group's total number of claims.
A statutory lease extension typically takes 6 to 12 months from service of the Section 42 notice, depending on how the freeholder responds. Group claims follow the same statutory timetable, and coordinating the notices means the claims in a building usually progress together.
It depends on the building. Collective enfranchisement needs at least half the flats to take part and involves forming a company to own and run the freehold. A group lease extension has no minimum participation, leaves the freehold with the current owner and gives each leaseholder a new lease with 90 years added and no ground rent. We advise on both routes and can help you compare them for your building.
Not usually. Statutory lease extension valuations are most often prepared on a desktop basis using floor plans or lease plans, because the Act requires each flat to be valued in its unimproved condition, disregarding improvements made by the leaseholder.
Yes. We act for leaseholders in every London borough and throughout England, and we deal with all types of freeholder, including councils, housing associations, private landlords and investment companies.
Share as much or as little as you know. We will review the leases, confirm eligibility and the fee tier, and set out the likely costs for each flat, free and without obligation.
extension.lease is a partnership between Arcadia Law (SRA regulated) and Blakes Chartered Surveyors (RICS regulated), 15 Approach Road, London SW20 8BA.
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