For leaseholders in Lewisham, Homehold offer an end-to-end lease extension service utilising the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. We work on a fixed-fee basis and our service is a one a one-stop-shop, meaning that you do not need to look any further for the valuation, negotiation and legal work associated with a statutory lease extension. We use our own firm of solicitors, Leasehold Legal Services, to complete the legal work.
Once we’ve completed your lease extension, your lease will be 90 years longer than its current unexpired term and your ground rent – if you currently pay it – will be reduced to nothing.
Homehold operate across the borough. Whether you have flat in a period conversion in New Cross, an ex-Local Authority property in Deptford, a Victorian maisonette in Catford or a modern development in Forest Hill, we’ll be able to help! We have plenty of experience with Lewisham Council lease extensions.
Considering using Homehold for your lease extension in Lewisham?
Which Lewisham leaseholders can extend their lease?
Most of the leaseholders of flats in the London Borough of Lewisham will have the right to extend their leases. If your freeholder is one of the London Borough councils, you certainly will.
If you have a shared-ownership property – usually through a Housing Association such as London & Quadrant or Peabody – then you generally only have a right to extend your lease under the legislation if you have staircased to 100%.
It used to be the case you had to be the registered owner for two years. However, since 31 January 2025 this requirement was removed.
How much does a lease extension cost?
When you extend your lease you must pay a premium to purchase the extra years and this is driven by three things:
- The value of your flat
- How much ground rent you pay, and whether it rises
- How many years are remaining on your lease at the moment
Most flats which have been leased by the London Borough councils - including Lewisham Council - will have been for 125 years from the mid-1980s. This means they will still be over the 80-year mark and the cost of doing a lease extension will be lower as a result. If you have a private freeholder, then the lease might well be much shorter – some leases in London are now very low.
Rightmove have reported that the average price of a flat in Lewisham is a substantial £376,430. However, values do vary within the borough, so if your flat is based in Ladywell it won't necessarily have a similar value to one just a mile away in Hither Green.
What’s the process?
Conventionally you would have had to use a separate solicitor and separate surveyor for your lease extension, but Homehold combines these into one specialist service and look after the process from start to finish. We’ll complete your lease extension on a fixed fee, which will be very competitive in contrast to Central London firms, particularly those based in the City or West End.
Stage 1: Preparation and Valuation
We own a law firm specialising in lease extension – Leasehold Legal Services – which is fully regulated by the Solicitors Regulation Authority. They will start the process by reviewing the documents related to your flat, including your lease and title register. They will do the same for your building. This is done early in the process to make sure that there is no delay as we go through the lease extension process.
The solicitors will then handover to the valuation team – briefing them thoroughly – so they can do a detailed valuation, to estimate what we think the premium for the lease extension will be.
Our team will review the “comparable properties” which will be similar to your own. Ideally, we like to find properties which are in as close as possible proximity to your flat – if you're based in Brockley, we won't be looking for flats in Blackheath!
Stage 2: Notice Serving and Negotiation
The solicitors will make an opening offer to your freeholder by serving them with an official document known as a Section 42 Notice.
Your freeholder will have a couple of months to reply to this with their own notice and they usually take their time. Their counter notice will have a counteroffer of what they want to charge.
We will then negotiate with your freeholder’s valuer for a fair price for your lease extension, using the comparable evidence we’ve collected during Stage 1.
Our negotiations are fully included in our fixed fee, which means you never have to worry about our charges increasing if negotiations drag on.
Stage 3: Conveyancing and Completion
In nearly all cases, a fair lease extension price can be agreed between us and your freeholder’s representatives. Once an agreement has been reached, the solicitors kick into action to complete the legal work.
Your freeholder’s solicitor will prepare the necessary documentation to extend your lease and usually it is short document that essentially extends the term and removes your ground rent. Otherwise, the terms of your lease should stay much as they are at the moment.
You also need to pay your freeholder’s fees as part of the process. This will be very dependent on which solicitor and surveyor they chose – if they use West End or City of London representatives it will be more expensive than if their solicitors are based outside of the city.
What's the cost for a Homehold lease extension?
Our fees are fixed We charge £2,580+VAT. This will include all the valuation and negotiation work and the legal work, which will be completed by Leasehold Legal Services, which is a law firm that we own.
The fee is broken into three equal instalments of £860+VAT.
Why use Homehold for your lease extension?
Whichever London Borough you are based in, we’ll be able to help.
“Valuing property in Lewisham is very interesting, because it is so incredibly varied - we've valued converted properties in Bovill Road in Honor Oak to Kent House Road in Sydenham. We've recently prepared to go to tribunal on a 1970s purpose-built block in Lee - although we managed to settle the case before the hearing.”
Linz Darlington, Director, Homehold
Hear it from another flat owner in Lewisham
Linz and the team went above and beyond to secure us a reasonable price on our lease extension with a very tricky freeholder. They worked so hard and nothing was too much trouble. Very pleased we picked them as I can't imagine many other companies putting the effort in that Homehold did. Also a very friendly service with regular updates and simple explanations of the process.
Jodie Shepley
