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<p>Under the current system, too many leaseholders find the process for extending
their lease or buying their freehold (a process known as enfranchisement) too complex,
lacking transparency and prohibitively expensive.</p><p>Through our reforms, the length
of a statutory lease extension will increase to 990 years, from 90 years (for flats)
and 50 years (for houses). Leaseholders will be able to extend their lease with zero
ground rent on payment of a premium.</p><p>We will also reform the process of enfranchisement
valuation that leaseholders must follow to calculate the cost of extending their lease
or buying their freehold. The Government will abolish marriage value, cap the treatment
of ground rents at 0.1% of the freehold value, and prescribe rates for the calculations
at market value. The Government will also introduce an online calculator, further
simplifying the process for leaseholders and ensuring standardisation and fairness
for all those looking to enfranchise. These changes to the enfranchisement valuation
process will result in substantial savings for some leaseholders, particularly those
with less than 80 years left on their lease.</p><p>Our leasehold reform measures will
be translated into law as soon as possible, starting with the Leasehold Reform (Ground
Rents) Bill, which was introduced into Parliament on 12 May. This Bill will be the
first part of major two-part legislation to implement leasehold and commonhold reforms
in this Parliament.</p>
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