Leasehold
If the lease still has 83 years, has the under-80 extension warning already arrived?
Not from the figure of 80 alone. Government guidance warns that extending a lease can be much more expensive once fewer than 80 years remain, and 83 is not under 80. The survey does not count the years or calculate a premium. Ask the solicitor how the years on this lease are counted.
Last reviewed 24 October 2026. Written for buyers in England and Wales unless this answer says otherwise. No named surveyor has signed this page. It is general guidance, not a report on your house, and not legal advice.
What is the fuller explanation?
The warning exists so buyers do not sleep through the point at which an extension can cost much more. It is not a finding that every lease above 80 years is untroubled, and it is not a price. How the remaining term is worked out depends on the lease: the start of the term, the date you are using, and what the documents actually say. A surveyor’s aside, an estate-agent brochure, or a mental subtraction from 99 can all be wrong. Your solicitor should do the count from the papers.
The inspection still tells you about the flat. A longish lease does not turn a rating 3 roof into a rating 1, and a short comment in the survey about the term is not the official count. Do not invent a premium for 83 years, and do not invent one for the day the term might later fall under 80. If you want to know what an extension would cost, that is a valuation exercise under the legal route you choose, not a sentence in the home survey.
What should you ask your surveyor?
- Are you stating the term, or only inspecting the flat?
- What should the solicitor use to count the years?
- Which building defects are unaffected by the term still being over 80 years?
What are the typical next steps?
- Ask the solicitor to count the term from the lease, not from the advert.
- Do not treat 83 as if the under-80 warning had already been triggered.
- Do not ask the surveyor for a lease-extension premium.
Costs vary with the building and with who you instruct. Where this page does not cite a published figure, ask the surveyor, a relevant specialist, or your solicitor for a written quote. Do not treat a forum average as the price.
Also asked about this
Does 83 years mean you can ignore the lease?
No. You still need the term, the rent and the repairs obligations read properly. The warning about 80 is only one point.
Will the surveyor’s visit freeze the number of years?
No. Time passes after the inspection. The solicitor’s count is the one to rely on, and it should be dated.