Do you need a lease extension on your Islington flat? Is your flat in Angel, Highgate, Kings Cross or Finsbury Park? Homehold offers a seamless end-to-end Islington Council lease extension service for flats like yours.
Considering using Homehold for your lease extension in Islington?
Who can extend their lease in Islington?
Nearly all flat owners have a right to extend their lease – including those with Islington Council as their freeholder.
The exception:
- Shared ownership flats. You will need to ‘staircase’ your ownership to 100% before you can extend your lease.
It used to be a requirement to have owned your flat for two years. However, this was removed on 31 January 2025.
Our team have completed many lease extensions in Islington, from Canonbury to Farringdon, and including various types of flats, from ex-local authority flats in St Luke’s Estate to converted flats such as those found on Essex Road. Whatever type of flat you have, we can help you.
How much does a lease extension cost?
The “premium” for your lease extension is formed by three factors:
- The ‘Notional’ value of your flat
- The amount you pay in ground rent, including any future rises
- How many years remain on the lease
Central London flats owned by private landlords may have high ground rents or have leases that have dropped below 80 years – at which point it gets much more expensive to extend. Any flats where Islington Council are the freeholder are likely to still be above 80-years (although rapidly approaching 80 years), as the majority were let on 125 years from the mid-1980s onwards.
It is likely the main factor for the cost of your lease extension will be the value of your flat. According to Rightmove, the average price of a flat sold in Islington during the last year was £641,628 (at the time of writing!) but this can vary wildly. In Islington we’ve valued everything from an ex-local authority flat in a 1960s purpose-built development, a modern purpose built flat next to the Emirates Stadium (Ashburton Triangle), to a one bedroom converted flat in a Victorian terrace. We cover any area in Islington, including Clerkenwell, Archway and Holloway.
What’s the process?
Homehold are unique in that we will guide your lease extension from conception all the way until completion. This will include all the necessary legal and valuation work. We own a law firm, Leasehold Legal Services, who have a fantastic team who cover the legal matters – which is full authorised and regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Therefore you can be assured that the matter is being handled with the correct due process.
Stage 1
The team at LLS will review all relevant documents concerning the flat, lease and the freehold of the building. They do this to ensure that we have everything in place for your lease extension, and there are no surprises later down the line.
The valuation team will be briefed by the solicitors, and they will do a valuation to estimate the price of your lease extension.
This will be done by finding and assessing similar properties to your own. As an example, if your flat is a two-bed flat in a purpose-built 2000s block in Highbury, our valuation team will be looking for similar properties which have sold within the nearby area to evidence our valuation. The valuation and selection of comparable flats will be very different if you are in a period conversion in Newingtons Green.
Stage 2
The solicitors will make an initial offer to your freeholder by serving them a notice called a “Section 42”.
At this point your freeholder will have a couple of months to respond, and they nearly always use this time. In most cases, their responding counter-notice will contain a higher counter-offer (do not worry, this is perfectly normal). If your freeholder is Islington Council, we expect them to be more reasonable on their counter-figure than a private freeholder would be.
When we have received the counter-notice, our valuation team will negotiate a fair premium with your freeholder’s valuer, using the evidence we have collected in the first stage of work. This negotiation can take up to six months, but it normally completes much more quickly than this.
Stage 3
With the premium agreed, your case goes back to the solicitors at LLS to action the conveyancing.
The draft lease is prepared by your freeholder’s solicitor, and it is usually a short document that keeps much of the original lease the same save for extending your lease by 90 years and setting the ground rent at a peppercorn (which means £0). They may also attempt to change or add other terms, and your solicitor at LLS will discuss these with you.
Islington Council have their own inhouse solicitors who will do the work for the lease extension. They typically cost less than a commercial solicitor acting for a private freeholder.
How much do Homehold charge?
Our fixed fee of £2,580+VAT covers the entire management from start to finish of your lease extension, including all valuation, legal and land registry fees.
This will be charged in three equal instalments of £860+VAT.
The service is provided by Homehold and our subsidiary LLS, our own law firm.
Hear it from another flat owner in Islington
Homehold and their legal team LLS are one of the best companies I have ever dealt with. Right from the initial chat with Linz we were so clear on the process and the potential challenges of our freeholder (Linz knew of a couple of cases just off the top of his head which was impressive) and they really prepared us for the horrific first offer from our freeholder.
Rebecca
