Sell a short lease flat in London for cash.
We buy short lease flats across all 33 London boroughs for cash, as they stand. One firm offer within 24 hours with the lease priced in, and an honest completion date before you agree.
- Offer within 24 hours
- No agent fees
- Flats complete slower than houses, and we say why
Check your lease
Want a second opinion? Try the independent LEASE calculator.
Need to sell your flat fast in London with a short lease? It can be done. Most lenders stop lending at about 70 to 85 years, so a mortgage buyer is hard to find, but a cash buyer does not need a lender. We buy any flat in London for cash, as it stands, and give you one firm offer within 24 hours with the lease priced in.
Be realistic about timing. The freeholder has to supply a management pack, so completion takes longer than on a house, and we give you the likely date before you accept.
| We buy | Short lease flats in all 33 London boroughs, case by case, from just under 90 years to well under 50. |
|---|---|
| Offer | One firm figure within 24 hours, the lease priced in. |
| Timing | Longer than a house. The freeholder’s pack usually takes two to four weeks, and you hear the likely date first. |
| Cost to you | No agent fees. We cover the legal and valuation costs. |
Need to sell your flat fast? Why short leases stall London sales
Most buyers need a mortgage, and most lenders will not lend on a short lease. That shrinks the number of people who can buy your flat, and the price follows.
Where lenders draw the line
Each lender sets its own minimum, usually somewhere between 70 and 85 years. Below it, the buyer’s mortgage is refused, however much they love the flat4,5.
Where extending gets dearer
Once fewer than 80 years are left, the freeholder can claim a share of the extra value an extension creates. The cost of fixing the lease jumps, and buyers know it8,10.
A market full of flats
Flats are half of all London sales, and London flat prices fell 5.0% in the year to August 2026. Lots of flats and fewer mortgage buyers make a slow market for tired leases2.
Where does your lease sit?
Drag the lease clock at the top of the page to see yours.
- 85 years or moreComfortable. Most buyers can borrow on it.
- 80 to 85 yearsWatch it. A few lenders already say no.
- 70 to 80 yearsShort. Extending costs more and many buyers cannot borrow.
- Under 70 yearsVery short. Mostly cash buyers, and the price reflects it.
Why now? Leases granted in the late 1970s and 1980s are the ones running down. A 99-year lease from 1980 has about 52 years left today, and even a 125-year lease from 1984 has about 8211,13,14.
See the numbers behind this: lender rules, lease table and value chart
How much of its value a flat keeps as the lease shortens
The most-quoted published reference is Savills’ 2015 graph, built from prime central London sales17. It suggests a flat keeps about 91% of its long-lease value at 80 years, 87% at 70, 83% at 60 and 78% at 50. Tribunals use other graphs too, and the real figure varies by street.
- 70most lenders stop
- 80marriage value starts
- 85many lenders want this
Sell a short lease flat: the calculator for your own lease
Enter your lease length and what the flat would be worth with a long lease. You will see where your lease stands, what a statutory extension would cost under today’s law, and how much value the short lease takes off.
How this is worked out, and how far to trust it
The estimate follows the statutory method of the 1993 Act as it stands today. It adds the freeholder’s loss of ground rent (capitalised at 6%) to the loss in the value of their reversion (deferred at 5%, with a 1% uplift to the long-lease value to get the freehold value, rates and uplift that tribunals use11,15), and, under 80 years, half of the marriage value. Marriage value needs the value of your lease as it stands, taken here from Savills’ 2015 graph17.
It is a guide, not a valuation. Valuers and tribunals disagree about the graph and the rates, so the range runs from 15% below to 50% above the formula. One London tribunal award came in about 40% above what this formula gives, because the tribunal chose a lower value for the short lease. On top of the premium you pay your own and the freeholder’s reasonable costs6; solicitors suggest allowing about £3,500 to £4,50018. A statutory extension adds 90 years and cuts the ground rent to nothing. For a second opinion use the government-funded LEASE calculator7. This is general information, not legal or financial advice.
Where your lease standsVery shortMost lenders will not lend below 70 years, so buyers are mainly cash buyers and the price reflects that.Lenders: Most lenders decline.
Sell a flat for cash in London: how our offer works
To sell your flat fast, you send a postcode and a few lease details, we come back with one firm cash figure, and we are straight with you about timing: a flat completes slower than a house, and the steps below show where the time goes.
- Today
Tell us the postcode and lease details
A postcode, the years left on the lease, the ground rent and the service charge are enough to start. If you are unsure of the lease length, your solicitor or the Land Registry title will have it.
- Within 24 hours
One firm cash offer, lease priced in
We read the lease, price in the cost and risk of the short term, and give you one figure with a realistic timeline for your building. No obligation, and you can set it against extending first using the calculator above.
- Once you accept
You instruct a solicitor, we chase the freeholder
We cover the legal costs. We ask the freeholder or managing agent for the management pack from day one, and tell you what is holding it up.
- Longest stepUsually 2–4 weeks
The freeholder’s pack arrives
The freeholder or managing agent supplies the service charge accounts, insurance and building information. There is no legal deadline for it, which is the main reason a flat completes more slowly than a house.
- Your date
Exchange and completion
With no lender, valuer or mortgage chain involved, completion happens on a date that suits you and the legal checks, not when a bank’s surveyor says so.
Why a flat is slower than a house
- Seller
- Buyer
- Solicitors
- Seller
- Buyer
- Solicitors
- Freeholder
- Managing agent
- The lease
- The building
The gold ones set the pace, and none of them has a legal deadline.
- Third parties set the paceThe freeholder and managing agent hold the documents your buyer’s solicitor needs, and the law gives them no deadline to supply them.
- The lease is read line by lineShort lease flats often have older, awkward leases: ground rent reviews, service charge rules, insurance and restrictions all have to be checked.
- The building has questions tooMajor works, a thin reserve fund or safety paperwork can raise questions that a house sale never meets.
- Title can be tangledA missing or unresponsive freeholder adds weeks. A tribunal can set the price when a landlord cannot be found, as in a Thornton Heath case in January 202612.
We buy any flat in London: boroughs, postcodes and streets
We buy short lease flats in all 33 London boroughs, so you can sell a flat for cash wherever it stands. Pick yours on the map to see what flats there sell for, the main postcode districts and what a short lease would cost to put right.
All 33 boroughs: average flat price and main postcode districts
| Borough | Average flat | Main postcode districts |
|---|---|---|
| Kensington and Chelsea | £947,855 | W8, W10, W11, SW3, SW5, SW7, SW10 |
| Westminster | £784,694 | W1, W2, W9, NW8, SW1, WC2 |
| City of London | £726,060 | EC1, EC2, EC3, EC4 |
| Camden | £656,955 | NW1, NW3, NW5, WC1, WC2 |
| Hammersmith and Fulham | £579,711 | W6, W12, W14, SW6 |
| Islington | £542,886 | N1, N5, N7, N19, EC1V |
| Hackney | £535,923 | E5, E8, E9, N1, N16, EC2 |
| Wandsworth | £532,028 | SW11, SW12, SW15, SW17, SW18, SW19 |
| Richmond upon Thames | £492,607 | TW1, TW2, TW9, TW10, TW11, TW12 |
| Haringey | £467,608 | N4, N8, N10, N15, N17, N22 |
| Southwark | £466,671 | SE1, SE5, SE15, SE16, SE17, SE21, SE22 |
| Lambeth | £441,815 | SW2, SW4, SW8, SW9, SW16, SE11, SE24, SE27 |
| Tower Hamlets | £429,851 | E1, E2, E3, E14 |
| Ealing | £410,282 | W3, W5, W7, W13, UB1, UB2, UB6 |
| Merton | £409,754 | SW19, SW20, CR4, SM4 |
| Waltham Forest | £390,968 | E4, E10, E11, E17 |
| Brent | £383,498 | NW2, NW6, NW10, HA0, HA9 |
| Lewisham | £374,267 | SE4, SE6, SE8, SE13, SE14, SE23 |
| Kingston upon Thames | £368,099 | KT1, KT2, KT3, KT5, KT6, KT9 |
| Barnet | £364,239 | EN4, EN5, N2, N3, N11, N12, N20, NW4, NW7, NW9, HA8 |
| Hounslow | £353,291 | TW3, TW4, TW5, TW7, TW8, TW13, TW14, W4 |
| Greenwich | £350,603 | SE2, SE3, SE7, SE9, SE10, SE18 |
| Newham | £320,546 | E6, E7, E12, E13, E15, E16 |
| Harrow | £319,799 | HA1, HA2, HA3, HA5 |
| Bromley | £306,823 | BR1, BR2, BR3, BR4, BR5, BR6, BR7 |
| Redbridge | £301,680 | IG1, IG2, IG3, IG4, IG5, IG6, E11, E18 |
| Enfield | £300,325 | EN1, EN2, EN3, N9, N13, N14, N18 |
| Hillingdon | £291,852 | UB3, UB7, UB8, UB9, UB10, HA4 |
| Sutton | £287,646 | SM1, SM2, SM3, SM5, SM6 |
| Croydon | £257,891 | CR0, CR2, CR5, CR7, CR8, SE19, SE25 |
| Havering | £249,212 | RM1, RM2, RM3, RM4, RM5, RM11, RM12, RM13, RM14 |
| Barking and Dagenham | £245,845 | IG11, RM6, RM8, RM9, RM10 |
| Bexley | £245,833 | DA5, DA6, DA7, DA8, DA14, DA15, DA16, DA17 |
Cash buyers for flats: the London flats we are asked to buy most
Converted houses
Ground and first floor flats on 99-year leases, as in the tribunal cases at Wembley HA0, Thornton Heath CR0 and Muswell Hill N1011,12.
Ex-council and right-to-buy flats
The freeholder is often the borough. Haringey, Southwark and Barking and Dagenham all publish their own extension guidance20.
Purpose-built blocks
Mid-century and later blocks with a managing agent and a service charge. The building pack matters as much as the lease.
Mansion blocks
Large central blocks with high values, such as the Westminster tribunal cases at Chapel Street NW1 and Carlisle Place SW113,15.
Flats with a rising ground rent
A ground rent that doubles or steps up can put off a mortgage buyer even when the lease is long enough.
Flats with a missing freeholder
When the freeholder cannot be traced the sale takes longer, but the flat is still saleable to a cash buyer.
Real London short lease cases from the property tribunal
When a freeholder and a leaseholder cannot agree a price, the London tribunal decides it. These public decisions show real flats, real lease lengths and what was awarded.
| Where | Lease | Left at valuation | Outcome | Decided |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Swinderby Road, Wembley HA0Brent · ground-floor flat | 99 years from 25 March 1981 | 57.49 years (27 Sept 2022) | Premium set at £42,48811 | 18 Dec 2023 |
| St Saviours Road, Thornton Heath CR0Croydon · two-flat house | 99 years; ground rent steps from £50 to £200 | 62.01 years | Price for the freehold set at £69,277; listed as a missing-landlord case12 | 20 Jan 2026 |
| Hyde Park Mansions, Chapel Street NW1Westminster · Victorian block | 99 years from 1979 | 54.71 years (6 Oct 2023) | First-tier decision 13 Jan 2025, then an appeal to the Upper Tribunal on the premium13 | 30 Sept 2025 |
| Woodside, Fortis Green N10Haringey · flat | 125 years from 1 Jan 1984 (about 82 left now) | Costs decision only | Freeholder’s legal costs for the new lease set at £1,257.50 plus VAT, after a first notice proved invalid14 | 4 Feb 2025 |
| Evelyn Mansions, Carlisle Place SW1Westminster · mansion block | Lease expiring 20 June 2064, with an intermediate lease expiring days later | 43.11 years (11 May 2021) | Long-lease value agreed at £1,572,000; premium set by the tribunal15 | 26 May 2022 |
These are prices set for freeholders under the law, not open-market sale prices; cash buyers for flats use them as a guide to what a short lease costs to put right. We list only the street, the postcode district and the borough, never a flat number. Other lease extension decisions issued around December 2025 include flats at Maida Vale W9, Prince Albert Road NW8, Northumberland Park N17, Hamlet Road SE19 and Beecroft Road, Brockley SE416. The London tribunal sits at 10 Alfred Place, London WC1E 7LR15.
Lease reform is coming, but your sale cannot wait for it
The law has been passed to abolish marriage value and extend leases to 990 years, but the parts that change the price of extending are not yet in force and have no start date.
In force today
Already law and already workingNot yet in force
Passed, but waiting for rulesGovernment target: implementation “as soon as possible from 2027”. It is a target, not a date8,9.
How we got here
- 24 May 2024Royal AssentThe Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 becomes law9.
- 31 Jan 2025Two-year rule endsThe first reform to take effect10.
- Oct 2025High Court rulingChallenges to the Act are dismissed19.
- 27 Jan 2026Draft Bill publishedA Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill is confirmed in the May 2026 King’s Speech9.
- 15 Jul 2026Rates consultationThe government consults on valuation rates and process costs8.
- NextNo date setRates must be set and the Bill passed first8,9.
Waiting is a gamble. The rates are still being consulted on, a further Bill is needed to fix the Act, and buyers and lenders price on today’s law.
The two-year rule has gone, so a buyer can start an extension straight after completion. That is how cash buyers for flats can take a short lease on, and why we price both outcomes into one fixed figure.
Whether to wait is a decision for you and a leasehold solicitor. This page is general information, not legal advice.
London cash buyers for flats, extension or estate agent?
There are three realistic routes for a short lease flat. Here is an honest comparison, including where a cash sale gives something up.
| Cash buyer (us) | Extend first, then sell | Estate agent or auction | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Time | Offer in 24 hours. Completion takes longer than a house, with a likely date given first. | Several months to extend: about four to six when agreed, up to a year if disputed18. Then a normal sale. | An agent’s sale depends on a buyer who can get a mortgage. An auction fixes the date but not the price. |
| Cost to you | No agent fees. Legal and valuation costs covered. | The premium, plus your own and the freeholder’s reasonable fees6. | Agent or auction fees, and the buyer will want the lease problem priced in. |
| Price | Below a perfect sale on paper, because we take the lease risk and the time. | Usually the highest sale price, after you have paid the premium. | Depends on the buyer pool, which the lender line at 70 to 85 years shrinks. |
| Certainty | One fixed figure. No mortgage to fall through. | High once the lease is extended; the tribunal timetable is the risk. | A buyer’s mortgage can fall through at survey or valuation. |
| Work for you | Light. A real person chases the freeholder for you. | Heavy: a valuer, a solicitor and formal notices. | Viewings, marketing and chasing the buyer’s lender. |
If a perfect price matters most and you have the months to spare, extending first can be the better route. If you want to sell a short lease flat for cash, speed and certainty are what the lower price buys you. Our selling guide compares the routes in more detail.
Quick flat sale in London: what we check in your lease
A quick flat sale depends on knowing the lease early, so when you want to sell your flat fast we check these ten things first. They decide the price and the timeline.
- 01Years leftUnder 80 years triggers marriage value; under 70 shuts most lenders.
- 02Ground rentThe amount, the review dates and any doubling. Some lenders want it under 0.1% of the flat’s value.
- 03Service charge and reserve fundWhat is charged, what sits in reserve and whether major works are planned.
- 04The freeholder and managing agentWho they are and whether they answer. A missing landlord adds time.
- 05Insurance and safety paperworkBuilding cover, claims history and any building safety or cladding documents the block needs.
- 06Restrictions and fees on saleNotice, registration or consent clauses and the fees attached to them.
- 07Sub-letting and tenancyWhether the flat is let, and on what terms.
- 08Title and registrationA registered lease, and any unregistered or split titles.
- 09Extension historyWhether a notice has already been served, which fixes the valuation date and the costs.
- 10Condition and alterationsThe state of the flat, and any works done without the freeholder’s consent.
Eight seller questions about short lease flats in London
The questions London sellers ask most when they want to sell a flat fast, answered with real figures and cases, and what we do about each.
Is my lease too short for a buyer’s mortgage?
There is no legal line, but lenders draw their own: many want 85 years, Halifax and Barclays work to 70, and most decline below 704,5. About one lease in ten in England has 80 years or fewer left1, and in London the late-1970s and 1980s leases are the ones running down.
We do not need a lender, so lease length changes our price, not whether the flat can sell.
Why do buyers walk away at 80 years?
Under 80 years the freeholder can claim half the marriage value on an extension8,10. A Wembley tribunal fixed the premium at £42,488 for a flat with 57.49 years left11, and two Thornton Heath flats on 62.01 years came to £69,27712.
We price the cost of the short lease in, so you do not have to find the money to extend first.
Should I extend my lease first, or sell as it is?
Extending can raise the sale price but takes about four to six months when agreed and up to a year if disputed, and you pay the premium and both sides’ reasonable costs6,18. The two-year rule is gone, so a buyer can also extend straight after buying10.
We give you a firm cash figure alongside the calculator’s estimate, so you can compare the two with real numbers.
My lease is under 60 years. Can it still sell?
Yes, but nearly always to a cash buyer. Tribunal cases show leases at this level: 54.71 years at Chapel Street NW113 and 57.49 at Wembley HA011. Published graphs suggest a flat keeps roughly 83% of its long-lease value at 60 years and 78% at 5017.
We buy at this length case by case, and tell you plainly if something in the lease changes the price.
I cannot find my freeholder. What happens now?
An absent freeholder slows a sale but does not end it. A London tribunal set the price for a Thornton Heath house in January 2026 where the landlord was listed as missing12.
We can still buy, but expect the timeline to run longer, and we say so before you accept.
My ground rent doubles. Does that matter?
It can. Some lenders want the starting ground rent under 0.1% of the flat’s value, and doubling clauses put buyers off5. A rent that steps up, as at Thornton Heath from £50 to £200, also raises the premium12.
We read the clause, price the rent in and buy the flat as it stands.
I inherited a short lease flat. Do I wait for probate?
The lease keeps running down while you wait, and every year takes it nearer the 80, 70 and 60-year lines. You can agree a price before the grant arrives. Our probate page explains the steps.
We agree a price now and complete once the grant arrives, with the contents left in if you wish.
My flat is tenanted and the lease is short. Can I sell?
Yes. About two in three privately rented homes in London are leasehold1, so tenanted short lease flats are common. See our page on selling a tenanted property.
We buy with the tenant in place, so you do not have to end the tenancy first.
Questions short lease flat sellers ask
Plain answers before you decide. If yours is not here, message us.
Sell a short lease flat in London: request one fixed offer
Send the postcode and we will come back within 24 hours. We buy any flat in London, short lease or not, with one fixed cash figure, the lease priced in and a realistic date for your building.
We also buy flats across the UK and houses across Greater London. Outside the capital, our short lease flat guides cover Brighton and Hove, Worthing, Eastbourne, Hastings, Bognor Regis and Bournemouth. This page is general information and not legal or financial advice.
What to send us, if you have it
- The postcode of the flat
- Years left on the lease, or the start date and term
- The ground rent and any review clause
- The service charge, and any major works notices
- The freeholder and managing agent, if you know them
- Whether the flat is let, and any notices already served
BP Properties is a trading name of Becka Properties Ltd · Company no. 16411478 · Registered in Derby
Sources, assumptions and how the figures were worked out
- Ministry of Housing, Communities and Local Government, Leasehold dwellings, 2024 to 2025, published 21 May 2026. London figures; lease-length analysis is for England.
- GOV.UK, UK House Price Index England: August 2026.
- HM Land Registry, UK House Price Index. Borough flat averages for August 2026 as summarised by GREM Capital; check the official browser for the latest revision.
- UK Finance, Mortgage Lenders’ Handbook: each lender’s minimum lease term (England and Wales).
- Home Owners Alliance, Getting a mortgage on a leasehold property.
- Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE), Lease extension of leasehold flats: the two routes.
- LEASE, Lease extension calculator (government-funded, independent).
- UK Parliament, Written statement HCWS270: Implementation of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024, 15 July 2026.
- House of Commons Library, Leasehold reform in England and Wales: what’s happening and when?
- Law News, Leasehold reform: which parts of the 2024 Act are in force, October 2026.
- First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), LON/00AE/OLR/2023/0697, Swinderby Road HA0, decided 18 December 2023.
- First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), St Saviours Road, Thornton Heath CR0, decided 20 January 2026.
- Upper Tribunal (Lands Chamber), [2025] UKUT 324 (LC), Hyde Park Mansions, Chapel Street NW1, 30 September 2025 (appeal from LON/00BK/OLR/2024/0335).
- First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), Flat 1 Woodside, Fortis Green N10, statutory costs decision, 4 February 2025.
- First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber), LON/00BK/OLR/2021/0831, Evelyn Mansions, Carlisle Place SW1, decided 26 May 2022 (hearing at 10 Alfred Place, London WC1E 7LR).
- GOV.UK, Residential property tribunal decisions: leasehold enfranchisement and extension, decisions listed for December 2025.
- Savills, Savills 2015 enfranchiseable graph of relativity, with the published table (prime central London sales). Used here as a stand-in for the whole of London.
- Ellis Jones Solicitors, lease extension guide: four to six months for most agreed claims; allow £3,500 to £4,500 for costs. Compare My Move, lease extension process: three to twelve months.
- Clapham & Collinge Solicitors, High Court upholds the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act ([2025] EWHC 2751 (Admin)).
- London councils as freeholders: Haringey, Southwark and Barking and Dagenham each publish lease extension guidance.
Pop your postcode and email in and we will open the chat. If WhatsApp is not on this computer, we will email you instead.
Got it. Opening WhatsApp
If it does not open on this computer, do not worry: we will email you shortly. Open WhatsApp again