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Author: Simon Seaton

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Simon Seaton is a former UK solicitor and a director of Lexsure. He has assisted hundreds of law firms, from small practices to firms ranked in the top 500, with compliance needs spanning SRA requirements, mortgage lender instructions, CQS and anti-money laundering. His AML experience includes developing policies, procedures and systems, and conducting independent audits of firms’ policies, controls and procedures. He has also delivered hundreds of webinars and seminars for lawyers and mortgage lenders on compliance, conveyancing risk and AML. Over the years, Simon has liaised on AML and risk management matters with organisations including UK Finance, the Bank of England, the Metropolitan Police, the National Crime Agency and the Financial Conduct Authority, as well as major mortgage lenders and professional indemnity insurers.

  • Our Flat Has 91 Years Left on the Lease. Why Did the Buyer Pull Out?

    The buyer offered above the asking price, increased their offer and then withdrew the following day. Their concern was the lease.

    For the seller, that was difficult to understand. They believed approximately 91 years remained. They had asked the estate agent whether the lease would cause a problem and had been reassured. Now their only buyer had disappeared, just as they were making an offer on their next home.

    A lease does not have to make a property unmortgageable before it affects a buyer’s decision. Future extension costs, uncertainty and concerns about selling again can influence an offer before a mortgage lender has considered the property.

    The seller’s story: an accepted offer followed by a withdrawal

    In a HousingUK discussion posted in March 2023, the owner of a two-bedroom flat described losing a buyer because of concerns about the remaining lease.

    The seller reported a 99-year lease “from 2016” and approximately 91 years remaining. Those are the figures given in the account, rather than a calculation verified against the lease. The precise commencement date and expiry date would need checking.

    After the withdrawal, a cash buyer offered £15,000 below the asking price. The seller also reported being told by the freeholder company that extending the lease to 125 years would cost around £10,000 in total.

    They were considering four possibilities: offering the original buyer a reduction, extending before selling, reducing the asking price or accepting the lower cash offer. In subsequent replies, the seller acknowledged that the original asking price had not reflected the lease position.

    The discussion does not establish a lender refusal, an independently assessed extension cost or a completed sale. It illustrates a seller confronting an unexpected obstacle and trying to decide what to do next.

    A buyer withdrawing is different from a lender refusing

    The first question is what actually prompted the withdrawal.

    Did the buyer’s mortgage adviser identify a problem with a particular lender? Did a solicitor raise a concern? Or did the buyer decide that the future cost and administration of extending were more than they wanted to take on?

    These are different situations. A seller should not be told that the property is unmortgageable merely because one buyer withdraws. Equally, the possibility of obtaining a mortgage does not require a buyer to accept the property or pay the asking price.

    Ask the estate agent to clarify the reason for the withdrawal as far as the buyer is willing to explain it. That information helps distinguish an identified transaction requirement from a concern about future ownership.

    Why might a buyer worry about a reported 91-year lease?

    A buyer may be thinking beyond the day they collect the keys.

    Someone expecting to own the flat for several years may anticipate selling with a shorter lease. They may also be concerned about finding the money for an extension while meeting mortgage payments, service charges and other expenses.

    That does not establish that their concerns justify a particular discount. It does explain why “there are still decades left” may not answer the question they are asking.

    Mortgage eligibility also depends on the particular lender, proposed mortgage term and relevant requirements. There is no single number that answers every lending, valuation and resale question.

    Our article on buying a flat with an 80–90 year lease and planning the next mortgage decision examines the buyer’s perspective.

    “Extend to 125 years” needs a written explanation

    The seller’s reported £10,000 quotation should not be treated as a standard price or confirmation that an extension had been agreed.

    Before comparing it with a price reduction, establish exactly what is being offered:

    • Would the new lease have 125 years remaining when the extension completes, or run for 125 years from an earlier date?
    • Is the proposal an informal agreement or part of a statutory process?
    • What would happen to the ground rent and its review provisions?
    • Would any other lease clauses change?
    • Does the quoted total include legal fees, valuation fees, registration costs and any applicable VAT?
    • How long would the offer remain available, and what could affect completion?

    The Leasehold Advisory Service explains that an informal extension can involve negotiated terms, including the length added and other lease provisions. A longer term should therefore be assessed alongside the rest of the proposed document.

    Obtain appropriate legal and valuation advice before accepting an offer from the freeholder. A headline price and lease length are not enough to compare the available routes.

    Should the seller extend, reduce the price or keep marketing?

    The account does not contain enough evidence to select one of those options for the seller. It does show what information would make the comparison more useful.

    Extending before selling: establish the likely total expenditure, funding and timing. Ask the selling agent for evidence of how an extended lease would affect marketability and achievable price, rather than assuming the cost will be recovered pound for pound.

    Agreeing a lower price: establish whether the reduction would actually address the buyer’s concern. A buyer worried about managing an extension may remain reluctant even if the price falls.

    Continuing to market: give prospective buyers accurate lease information early. Ask the agent to explain how the asking price compares with genuinely comparable flats, including their lease terms.

    Considering a cash offer: compare its amount and proposed terms with the other realistic options. A cash buyer does not need mortgage approval, but their offer is not an independent valuation or proof that the flat can only be sold for cash.

    The appearance of a cash buyer after the first withdrawal does not, by itself, establish misconduct by the estate agent.

    For the separate question of extension timing and legislative change, read Short Lease: Extend Now or Wait for Reform?

    What were you told when you bought the flat?

    A difficult sale can also bring the original purchase advice into focus.

    Find the lease, Report on Title, mortgage papers and relevant correspondence. Consider what those records show about:

    • the unexpired term when you purchased;
    • the implications of the lease becoming shorter during your ownership;
    • whether an extension was discussed;
    • any advice about future resale or mortgageability; and
    • any assumptions about your intended period of ownership.

    Recording a lease term and explaining its practical significance are different things. However, a later withdrawal does not prove that the original conveyancer failed to advise properly. The circumstances, retainer and advice actually given need examination.

    Nor should the estate agent’s reassurance during the current sale be confused with the legal advice received when purchasing. They concern different people, different roles and potentially different points in time.

    For conveyancers: establish the actual obstacle

    “The lease is too short” can conceal several different concerns: a lender’s requirement, a valuation issue, an extension quotation or a buyer’s preference.

    Identify which applies before recommending a response. If an extension is proposed, assess the actual terms. If the buyer wants a reduction, establish what that reduction is intended to address.

    The useful question is what this buyer needs resolved to proceed, and whether the proposed solution achieves it.

    The lease has become a selling problem. Was that possibility explained when you bought?

    If a buyer has withdrawn or your sale or remortgage is being affected by the remaining lease term, visit When I Bought’s short-lease page.

    Explore the purchase records and advice that may matter, then tell us when you bought and what has happened. You do not need to decide whether anyone was at fault before starting a conversation.

    Short lease affecting your sale? Tell us what happened →

    An initial conversation. No report to buy. No claim to start.

    This article discusses an individual online account and general issues affecting leasehold flats in England and Wales. It does not establish the property’s value, mortgage eligibility, extension cost or whether any adviser was at fault. Current legal requirements and the particular lease must be checked.

  • Buying a Flat With an 80–90 Year Lease: What Happens When Your Mortgage Deal Ends?

    You have found a flat you can afford. The mortgage looks achievable, but the lease has around 80–90 years remaining. You intend to extend it after buying.

    There is one question you cannot quite answer: what happens if your mortgage deal ends before the lease extension is complete?

    That concern appeared in a HousingUK discussion about short leases and remortgaging. First-time buyers considering former council flats in London said they were looking at a mortgage with a 5% deposit. They understood that a lease extension would be needed, but worried about their borrowing options if it had not been completed within two years.

    They also wondered whether waiting until they had a 10% deposit would improve the position. The account describes a purchasing decision, not a completed purchase or a mortgage refusal. No eventual outcome is provided in the account discussed here.

    Their question deserves attention before exchange: obtaining a mortgage to buy the flat does not guarantee the same choice of mortgages later.

    Your mortgage deal ending does not necessarily mean changing lender

    The buyers assumed that remortgaging after two years would be inevitable. That needs qualification.

    A mortgage’s introductory rate period and its overall repayment term are different things. When an introductory deal ends, the mortgage does not ordinarily become repayable in full simply for that reason.

    The borrower may be able to take another deal with the existing lender, known as a product transfer, or remortgage to another lender. Without a new arrangement, the rate may move to the lender’s standard variable rate. MoneyHelper explains these options.

    A product transfer and a new lender’s mortgage application can involve different processes. Ask your mortgage adviser about the particular lender’s arrangements, eligibility and restrictions. Do not assume either that you must change lender or that an attractive existing-customer deal will always be available.

    “Between 80 and 90 years” is not precise enough

    For an initial property search, a broad range may be useful. For a purchasing decision, you need the exact unexpired term.

    A lease with 80 years remaining today would have approximately 78 years left two years later. One with 90 years would have approximately 88. These are arithmetic illustrations, not lending thresholds.

    The relevant questions include:

    • How much of the lease will remain at purchase completion?
    • What mortgage term are you requesting?
    • What does the proposed lender require?
    • What would the remaining lease term be when you next expect to review your mortgage?
    • What is your plan if an extension has not completed by then?

    Lenders’ requirements differ. Some address the remaining lease at the start of the mortgage, the period remaining at its end, or both. A mortgage offer from one lender cannot establish what another lender will accept in two years.

    Valuation and mortgage eligibility are separate questions

    The Reddit poster asked how a shorter lease might affect the valuation at remortgage.

    There is no reliable percentage deduction that can be applied to every flat. The property, local market, lease terms and extension prospects need to be considered. The Leasehold Advisory Service’s guidance for buyers explains why the remaining term matters to value and mortgageability.

    A property might satisfy a lender’s lease-length requirement but receive a valuation that changes the borrowing calculation. Alternatively, its value might be acceptable while the lease fails that lender’s criteria.

    Illustration: a £380,000 mortgage against a £400,000 property represents 95% loan-to-value. If, at a later mortgage application, the outstanding balance were £370,000 and the valuation were £380,000, the ratio would be approximately 97.4%.

    Those figures are hypothetical. They show why repayments alone do not determine future loan-to-value. They do not predict a valuation fall, attribute one to lease length or establish which mortgage products would be available.

    Would a 10% deposit solve the lease problem?

    A larger deposit changes the initial borrowing calculation. It does not add years to the lease or remove the need to investigate an extension.

    Buyers should consider their deposit and extension budget together. Putting more savings into the purchase may leave less available for the premium, professional fees and other ownership costs.

    The comparison should therefore include more than another six months’ rent. Ask your advisers to help you consider the purchase price, mortgage costs, extension funding and the consequences of delay.

    Neither “buy now with 5%” nor “wait until you have 10%” is a universal answer.

    Turn “we will extend later” into a practical plan

    Before committing, establish the available extension route, a professionally informed budget and how the work would be funded.

    The Leasehold Advisory Service’s introduction to extending a flat’s lease distinguishes the formal statutory process from negotiating directly with the landlord. An extension normally requires legal and valuation advice.

    Ask your solicitor and specialist valuer:

    • What route is available for this particular flat?
    • What costs should we budget for beyond the premium?
    • Could an extension be addressed as part of the purchase?
    • What could delay completion, and what would that mean for our plans?
    • If we cannot complete the extension before our mortgage deal ends, what alternatives should we investigate?

    Rules and valuation arrangements are subject to reform. Do not build the purchase budget around an assumption that a proposed change will be available by a particular date. Our separate article, Short Lease: Extend Now or Wait for Reform?, examines that timing question.

    What should the purchase advice explain?

    The buyer needs to understand more than the number printed in the lease.

    The legal advice should address the significance of the remaining term in the circumstances of the purchase. The mortgage adviser assesses borrowing options; a specialist valuer advises on valuation and the extension premium. Those roles should be clear.

    Tell your advisers if your plan depends on refinancing in two years, borrowing more to fund an extension or selling within a short period. An assumption left unspoken may never be tested.

    For conveyancers, the practical lesson is to record the client’s plans and explain material limitations clearly. A lender accepting the security today does not answer every question about the buyer’s future ownership.

    The seller can face a different difficulty: a buyer withdrawing before any lender refusal has been established. Our case study, Our Flat Has 91 Years Left on the Lease. Why Did the Buyer Pull Out?, examines the distinction between buyer concerns, mortgage requirements and the terms of an extension offer.

    Already bought and now facing a short-lease problem?

    The position is different if you already own the flat and have only now discovered that its lease affects your sale or remortgage.

    Your original lease, Report on Title, mortgage papers and correspondence may help establish what was explained about the remaining term, extending and future mortgageability. The fact that the lease has shortened does not, by itself, establish that the original advice was wrong.

    Our short-lease purchase advice collection brings together related articles.

    Your lease is now a mortgage problem. What were you told when you bought?

    If you already own the property and a short lease is affecting your sale or remortgage, visit When I Bought to explore the purchase records and advice that may matter.

    Tell us when you bought, what has happened and what you remember being told. You do not need to decide whether anyone was at fault before starting a conversation.

    Already own a short-lease flat? Tell us what happened →

    An initial conversation. No report to buy. No claim to start.

    This article concerns flats in England. It provides general information, not a mortgage recommendation, property valuation or estimate of a lease extension premium. Check the current position for the particular property and transaction.