LeaseExtensionQuotes

Guide

Lease extension valuation: why the surveyor is a separate fee

Updated

The number that dominates a lease extension is produced by a valuer, not a solicitor. Instructing them in the wrong order costs leaseholders money.

Two professions, two fees

A solicitor conducts the legal process. A valuer or surveyor produces the figure that process is arguing about. They are separate disciplines, separately instructed and separately billed, and a solicitor's quote does not normally include valuation work. If a quoted fee looks unusually complete, check explicitly whether a valuation is inside it.

What the valuer is actually assessing

  • The value of the flat, which is the anchor for everything else.
  • The remaining term of the lease. Gov.uk states that when 80 years or less remain, the cost of extending increases significantly.
  • The ground rent payable under the existing lease, and what it does over the remaining term.
  • The valuation assumptions that apply to a claim of this kind, which are a matter of statute rather than opinion and which the 2024 Act addresses.

Get the valuation before you choose a route

This is the practical point that saves the most money. Until you have a valuation you cannot tell whether a landlord's informal offer is generous or opportunistic, you cannot budget, and you cannot decide sensibly between the statutory route and a negotiated deal. Leaseholders who negotiate first and value afterwards routinely discover they were arguing about the wrong number.

Questions worth asking a valuer

  1. Does the quoted fee cover a report only, or also negotiation with the landlord's valuer once the claim is under way?
  2. Is an internal inspection required, and is it included?
  3. What would you charge if the matter goes to the tribunal and evidence is needed?
  4. Which valuation assumptions have you applied, and are any of them affected by provisions of the 2024 Act that have not yet commenced?

On the statutory route the tenant is also liable, under section 60 of the 1993 Act, for the landlord's reasonable costs of any valuation of the flat obtained for the purpose of fixing the premium (legislation.gov.uk). That is a second valuation fee, not the same one. Section 60(2) limits it to what the landlord would reasonably have incurred if paying personally.

Questions, answered directly

Do I need a surveyor as well as a solicitor to extend my lease?

In practice yes on anything but the simplest matter. The premium is a valuation question and a solicitor does not produce it. The valuer values the flat, assesses the effect of the remaining term and the ground rent, and applies the statutory valuation assumptions. Their fee is separate from the solicitor's fee.

Should I get a valuation before approaching the landlord?

It is generally the sensible order. Without a valuation you have no basis on which to judge an offer from the landlord, no basis on which to choose between the statutory route and an informal deal, and no budget. Approaching the landlord first tends to mean negotiating about a figure nobody has tested.

Who pays for the landlord's valuation?

On a statutory claim, section 60(1)(b) of the 1993 Act makes the tenant liable for the landlord's reasonable costs of any valuation of the flat obtained for the purpose of fixing the premium. That liability is limited by section 60(2) to costs the landlord would reasonably have incurred if personally liable for them, so an unreasonable bill can be challenged rather than simply paid.

A fee for your matter, not a range from an article.

Two minutes to set out the lease; leasehold solicitors quote you directly for the legal work.

Get lease extension quotes
Get lease extension quotes