When a freeholder sends you a Section 45 counter-notice, it can feel like a number you just have to accept. It isn’t. In 2026 to date, we’ve put over £1.2 million back into leaseholders’ pockets by successfully negotiating down freeholders’ counter-notice demands, often by a significant margin on the figure first quoted.
Why the freeholder’s first figure usually isn’t the last word
A Section 45 counter-notice is the freeholder’s opening valuation, not a fixed price. It’s built on assumptions about relativity, deferment and capitalisation rates, and comparable evidence, every one of which can be challenged with better data or a different (still legitimate) reading of the same 1993 Act formula. That’s where negotiation earns its keep: not by disputing the law, but by testing the freeholder’s numbers against the market evidence and pushing where the evidence supports it.
What that looks like in practice
One flat we recently negotiated on behalf of a client had a freeholder’s counter-notice demand of roughly £316,000. Working through the comparable evidence and the relativity assumptions behind it, we settled at just under £175,000, a saving of over £140,000 on a single premium. Most cases are far more modest than that, but even a few hundred pounds matters when it’s coming out of your own pocket rather than a freeholder’s opening ask.
Why extension.lease exists
extension.lease brings together the valuation and negotiation expertise of Blakes Chartered Surveyors with the legal side handled by Arcadia Law, one team, one process, covering every London borough. The people negotiating these figures are the same RICS-qualified surveyors who’ve built this track record; the combined service just makes the whole statutory process (valuation, negotiation, and the legal conveyancing) easier to manage from one place.
What to do next
If you’ve received a lease extension quote, whether it’s your own solicitor’s estimate or a freeholder’s counter-notice, it’s worth having it checked before you accept it. Use our calculator for an instant indicative premium, or get in touch for a proper look at your specific lease.
