Valuation Guide
A plain-English guide to one of the most consequential concepts in leasehold law: the additional premium a leaseholder pays the freeholder when extending a lease that has dropped below 80 years remaining.
When a leaseholder extends a lease, the new (longer) lease is worth more than the old lease plus the freeholder's interest added together separately. That extra value, created by combining the two interests, is called marriage value. Under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (the statute that gives leaseholders the right to extend), the leaseholder must pay 50 percent of marriage value to the freeholder as part of the lease extension premium.
The crucial point: marriage value only applies if the lease has fewer than 80 years remaining when the leaseholder formally starts the extension process by serving a Section 42 notice. Above 80 years, marriage value is treated as nil. This is why the 80-year line is so important and so often quoted: extending above 80 avoids marriage value entirely; extending below 80 adds it on top of the basic premium.
This guide explains the threshold, the mechanics of the calculation, three worked examples at different lease lengths and property values, where the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 fits in and how to decide whether to extend now or wait.
The 80-year line comes directly from Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. The relevant provision states that where the unexpired term of the lease exceeds 80 years, marriage value is to be taken as nil. Below 80 years, marriage value is calculated and split 50/50 between leaseholder and freeholder.
This produces a sharp economic step in lease extension cost. A flat with 81 years on the lease and a flat with 79 years on the lease are practically identical from a buyer's point of view, but the cost of extending them is materially different. Extending the shorter-lease flat, with marriage value now applied, can cost £10,000, £20,000 or more above the cost of extending the slightly-longer lease, depending on the property's value.
The 80-Year Cliff, Drawn to Scale
Illustrative statutory-extension premium for a flat worth about £300,000. The step between 81 and 79 years is marriage value arriving.
The threshold is fixed at the date the Section 42 notice is served. Once the notice is in, the lease length is locked in for valuation purposes even if the case takes a year to settle. This is why leaseholders close to 80 years are routinely advised to serve the notice quickly: an extra few weeks can make the difference between paying marriage value and not.
The statutory basis is Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 on legislation.gov.uk. For general guidance, see gov.uk: extending your lease and the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE).
The calculation under Schedule 13 compares two totals.
Two values added together:
The same two values, but recalculated as if the lease has already been extended by 90 years at a peppercorn (zero) ground rent:
Total 2 minus Total 1. The combined value rises after extension because a long-leasehold flat is worth more than a short-leasehold flat plus the freeholder's interest added separately. The difference is the marriage value.
The leaseholder pays 50 percent of this figure to the freeholder, on top of the basic extension premium (which compensates the freeholder for the ground rent they lose and the longer wait for reversion). The other 50 percent of the marriage value sits with the leaseholder, expressed as the uplift in the value of their extended lease.
The Two Totals Behind the Number
A flat with 70 years left, worth £400,000 once extended, valued twice: once as things stand, once as if the new lease already existed.
Total 1: before the extension
Total 1: £350,000
Total 2: after the extension
Total 2: £400,900
£400,900 minus £350,000 = marriage value of £50,900, split half and half:
Illustrative figures showing how marriage value scales with property value and lease length. All numbers are indicative and rounded; a real valuation requires a specialist surveyor.
Modest mid-market flat with 75 years remaining.
Higher-value flat with a deeper lease cut.
Same flat, just over the threshold. No marriage value.
Compare Example 2 and Example 3: the same flat, with the same future condition after extension, but with a starting lease of 70 versus 81 years. The leaseholder in Example 3 pays no marriage value at all. The leaseholder in Example 2 pays an additional £25,450 on top of the basic premium, simply because the lease has fallen below 80 years. This is the financial logic behind the standard advice to extend before the lease drops below 80.
Real numbers vary considerably by location, property type, ground rent and the specific valuation rates a surveyor uses. The figures above are illustrative only. In all three cases the basic premium, which compensates the freeholder for the lost ground rent and the longer wait for the reversion, is payable as well; the cards show the marriage value element only.
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 ("LAFRA") received Royal Assent in May 2024. Among other reforms, it includes provisions that abolish marriage value entirely. Once those provisions are in force, leaseholders will no longer pay any marriage value at any lease length, and the basic premium calculation will be re-set on a more leaseholder-favourable basis.
The catch is timing. The marriage value abolition needs secondary legislation to commence, and as of August 2026 it is still not in force. Freeholders challenged the valuation reforms in the High Court and lost in October 2025; the Court of Appeal has given them permission to appeal, with a hearing expected around the turn of the year. The government has said it will implement the reforms despite the litigation, but the detailed valuation framework (capitalisation and deferment rates and the treatment of ground rent) still has to be set in secondary legislation, and no commencement date has been set.
What was brought into force on 31 January 2025 was the abolition of the two-year ownership requirement for statutory lease extensions. From that date, anyone who is the registered owner of a qualifying leasehold flat can serve a Section 42 notice immediately, without needing to have owned the flat for two years first. This is helpful for someone who has just bought a flat with a lease close to 80 years: they can act quickly. The marriage value rules, separately, remain unchanged for now.
Until the marriage value abolition is in force, current law applies. Treat any future change as upside if it lands before you act, rather than as something to plan a sale or extension around. Leases continue to shorten in the meantime, so waiting in the hope of reform can backfire: a flat with 82 years now may have 80 years by the time the law changes, and the legal threshold is only relevant under the current rules. The draft Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill, published in January 2026, restates the direction of travel, but it is a separate future reform and changes nothing about marriage value today.
The decision turns on three things: where you sit relative to 80 years, the value of your flat and your appetite for waiting. There is no universally right answer, and this is general information rather than advice on your own case: the numbers that settle it come from a surveyor's valuation.
Where Your Lease Sits Today
Four bands, four postures. The navy line marks the 80-year threshold.
For sellers, the question is whether to extend before marketing or to sell with the short lease. Our guide to selling a short lease flat covers the trade-offs in detail.
For everyone, a pre-action assessment from a leasehold valuation surveyor (typically £500 to £1,000) is a sound investment. It tells you the realistic premium, your projected premium below 80 years and the price uplift extending would deliver in your local market. With those three numbers in hand, the decision is usually straightforward.
Marriage value is technically calculated under Schedule 13. In practice, the calculation produces a wide possible range depending on the inputs the valuer chooses, and good valuers disagree on those inputs. Three judgement calls have particular impact:
The freeholder's surveyor will pick rates and comparables that maximise the freeholder's share of marriage value. Your surveyor's job is to pick rates and comparables that are well-evidenced and stand up to scrutiny. The negotiation between the two is normal; both sides know there is a defensible range. A poorly evidenced valuation gets pushed around. A well-evidenced one anchors the negotiation.
For most leaseholders, paying for a specialist leasehold valuation surveyor (qualified through the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), with day-to-day experience of lease extension cases) is one of the higher-leverage spends in the whole process. The £500 to £1,000 typical fee is small relative to the difference a robust valuation makes.
Marriage value is one specific topic within the wider question of how a leasehold flat is valued. Our valuation hub covers the full picture: factors that drive price, online valuations versus real ones, and the three routes (RICS surveyor, estate agent, direct cash buyer) for getting a real valuation.
Visit the valuation hub →Marriage value is the additional value that arises when a leaseholder's interest is combined with the freeholder's interest by extending the lease. It exists because a long lease is worth more in market terms than the leasehold and freehold values added separately. Under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, when marriage value applies the leaseholder must pay 50 percent of it to the freeholder as part of the lease extension premium.
Only when the lease has fewer than 80 years remaining at the date the Section 42 notice is served. Schedule 13 of the 1993 Act states that where the unexpired term exceeds 80 years, marriage value is nil. This is why so many sources advise leaseholders to extend before the lease falls below 80 years: the moment it does, marriage value becomes payable on top of the basic premium.
By comparing two totals. Total 1: the value of the leaseholder's existing lease plus the value of the freeholder's interest (their ground rent for the remaining term and their right to get the property back when the lease ends). Total 2: the same two values after a 90-year extension at peppercorn ground rent. The difference is the marriage value. The leaseholder pays 50 percent of it. The other 50 percent is the leaseholder's share, retained as the uplift in the value of their extended lease.
The Act passed in May 2024 includes provisions to abolish marriage value. As of August 2026, however, those provisions are still not in force: commencement needs secondary legislation, a freeholders' challenge is before the Court of Appeal and no date has been set. Under current law, marriage value still applies below 80 years. Treat any future abolition as upside if it lands before you act, rather than as something to plan around.
Often yes, but not always. The savings from extending above 80 years (avoiding marriage value entirely) can be significant on higher-value flats. On lower-value flats and with a lease comfortably above 80 years, the saving is smaller and the extension cost still has to be weighed against the price uplift. Get a leasehold valuation surveyor to model both your current premium and your projected premium below 80 years before deciding.
Yes for any negotiation with the freeholder. Marriage value depends on the value of the unextended lease, the value of the extended lease and the freeholder's reversion, which themselves depend on capitalisation rates and deferment rates that valuers reasonably disagree on. A specialist leasehold valuation surveyor uses comparable evidence and tribunal precedent to produce a defensible figure. The cost (typically £500 to £1,000) is small relative to the difference a robust valuation makes to the negotiation.
