Are you a leaseholder in Kingston Upon Thames? Does your flat have a short lease or a high ground rent?
You have a legal right to extend your lease, adding an additional 90 years and removing the ground rent.
Homehold offer end-to-end process for this type of statutory lease extension, and we have completed many similar transactions in the London Borough with Kingston Council lease extensions.
The lease extension service includes all elements of process – including conducting a valuation, serving the notice of claim, negotiating the price and handling the conveyancing process.
We’ve worked across the borough with private freeholders, housing associations.
Considering using Homehold for your lease extension in Kingston?
Who can extend?
Nearly all leaseholders in Kingston will be able to extend their leases.
If you own the flat on a “shared ownership” scheme, where you still pay rent for a % of your flat to your freeholder you won't be able to extend your lease.
The two year ownership requirement was removed on 31 January 2025.
How much does a lease extension cost?
When you do a lease extension there are three things you need to pay for.
The first is known as “the premium”. This is a charge negotiated with your freeholder, which is paid in return for the extra years and removes the ground rent.
This premium is based on three things:
- How much your flat would be worth if it was sold with a long lease
- Your annual ground rent charge, and how it increases over time
- How many years you currently have on your lease
Generally, if your lease has dropped below 80 years (even if just by one day!) or you have a high ground rent, then the cost will be significant.
In contrast, if your freeholder is Kingston Upon Thames Council then it is likely that your lease extension premium will be comparatively modest – because your lease will almost certainly still be above 80 years, and they commonly were let with £10 a year ground rents.
It is generally true that a higher flat value leads to a higher lease extension premium. At the time of writing the average flat price in Kingston is around £380,000 – and this will get you a three-bed split-level flat in an ex-Local Authority block in New Malden, or a two-bed maisonette between Chessington and Surbiton.
The two other things you need pay when you do a lease extension are as follows
- Our fixed fees, which are £2,580+VAT and
- Your freeholder’s legal and valuation fees, which are likely to be similar to our fees, but can be a little more expensive.
What is the lease extension process?
The lease extension process is set out in the law.
Unusually, Homehold will look after the entire process from start-to-finish, so you don’t have to instruct a separate firm of lease extension valuers and solicitors.
We have a valuation team in house, and we own Leasehold Legal Services Limited, which is regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. They will handle the legal work.
Stage 1: Preparation and Valuation
The lease extension solicitors at Leasehold Legal Services will review your existing lease, and all of the legal paperwork associated with its title and that of the freehold title to your building.
It is important that from the start of the lease extension process, we know exactly what we’re working with.
Next a specialist lease extension valuer from Homehold’s team will complete a detailed valuation, using a variety of data points. Clearly the valuation for your flat will be very different if it is a Edwardian Conversion in Norbiton, than if it is a purpose built block in Kingston town.
We have done a lot of Kingston Council lease extensions, as many of their flats were let from the mid-1980s on “Right to Buy” leases, which are now nearing the 80-year mark.
Our valuation will give you a concrete idea of how much we think you should pay for your lease extension, and our suggested opening offer to your freeholder.
Stage 2: Notice Serving and Negotiation
Once we’ve done the valuation the next step is for Leasehold Legal Services to serve your notice of claim on your freeholder.
This sets out that you wish to claim your 90-year extension, and how much you want to pay for it.
The freeholder has a period of time – usually two months, plus some time for postage – to respond to this notice and our experience is that they usually respond within a few weeks of the deadline and will invariably ask for a higher price for your lease extension.
Homehold’s job is to ensure we negotiate a fair price for you. Again, unlike many of our competitors, our fixed fee includes the cost of this negotiation. We never want you to have to choose between settling at a price that you know is too high, or continuing to pay us to negotiate – not knowing if you’ll be better off overall.
Stage 3: Conveyancing and Completion
Once the premium for your lease extension has been agreed with your freeholder’s valuer, the last part of the process is to get your lease extended at the Land Registry.
It is important that your freeholder accurately reflects the additional 90 years, removes of the ground rent and doesn’t add in any additional charges or restrictions.
Our firm of lease extension solicitors will review these documents and ensure they are as they should be.
They will register them on your behalf at the Land Registry.
How much do Homehold charge?
We work on a fixed-fee basis and our end-to-end lease extension service is £2,580+VAT.
This is paid in three equal instalments of £860+VAT
Our fees include additional costs sometimes referred to as “disbursements”, which are things like Land Registry fees etc.
Why use Homehold?
We have experience valuing across the bought of Kingston upon Thames, so wherever you are from Coombe Hill, to Berrylands to Hook – we’ve got you covered!
Our end-to-end lease extension service means that you have all your work done under a single fixed fee and do not need to worry about instructing different professionals.
Hear it from another flat owner in Kingston Upon Thames
I would like to say a big thank you to Homehold for helping us with our leasehold extension. From the first interaction with Linz initially the process was laid out and easy to understand. I had a lot of questions and Linz was happy to answer them all. The best part of using Homehold is that the legal work and survey work was all done through Homehold.
Daniel Jeetun
