Instant Valuer

• Sell them a 90-year lease extension for an individual flat at a fair market price within statutory deadlines; or
• sell to them collectively the building freehold at a fair market price within statutory deadlines.

The formula used to calculate the value of a 90-year lease extension (the 90 years get added to the number of years existing on the lease) is the same as the basic formula for calculating the cost of one's share of the building freehold. The Instant Valuer is not the same as an on-site formal valuation. The Instant Valuer provides an estimate and is not a guarantee of the price to be paid. The Instant Valuer allows you to enter information online regarding your flat and for £20 to download a PDF file with an estimate of your 90-year lease extension or an estimate of your share of your freehold. You need Adobe Reader to use the Instant Valuer. .

In order to compel a landlord (freeholder) to sell a 90-year lease extension, the leaseholder and the leaseholderÕs building must qualify. Not all buildings and residents qualify for the legal right to a lease extension. It is important to confirm, before beginning the formal process, that the building and leaseholder both qualify.

A building will be eligible for individual lease extensions if:

• It is a residential structure, not a commercial building;
• It is not within the precinct boundary of a cathedral; and
• It is not owned by a charitable housing trust, the National Trust or the Crown.

A resident will qualify for a 90-year lease extension if:

• He/she has a "long lease", that is, the lease term was for more than 21 years at the time it was granted;
• He/she has owned the lease for at least two years at the time of serving notice on the landlord for a lease extension; and
• He/she is not a business or commercial tenant.

In order to compel a landlord (freeholder) to sell a building freehold to participating leaseholders, the building and each would-be participant must qualify. The process is known as Collective Enfranchisement. Not all buildings and leaseholders qualify for Collective Enfranchisement. It is important to confirm, before beginning the formal process, that the building and each would-be participant qualify.

A building will be eligible for Collective Enfranchisement if:

• It is a self-contained separate structure (this can include a building that is adjacent to and physically joined to another building, but that shares no common parts or common structural services with the adjacent building);
• It has two or more flats;
• At least two-thirds of all flats in the building are held by a "qualifying tenant", that is, a leaseholder that owns a lease with more than 21 years when first granted and the leaseholder owns no more than two flats in the building;
• Not more than 25 per cent of the building floor space is for commercial use;
• A minimum of half of all flats in the building are participating, regardless of whether all the flats are leasehold or some are owned by the freeholder (if there are only two flats in the building, then both must participate);
• The landlord is not a charitable housing trust or the Crown;
• It is not a converted property of four or fewer flats, with the same person having owned the freehold since before the conversion and the freeholder or an adult member of the freeholderÕs family having lived in one of the flats as his only or main home for the last 12 months.

A resident will qualify to participate in a Collective Enfranchisement if:

• He/she has a "long lease", that is, the lease term was for more than 21 years at the time it was granted;
• He/she does not own more than two qualifying flats in the building.

There are some exemptions regarding freehold purchase. When in doubt, contact a professional adviser.