Leasehold

If an older lease is extended voluntarily, what does the 2022 Act do to ground rent on the new term?

GOV.UK’s guidance on the Leasehold Reform (Ground Rent) Act 2022 says that where an existing leaseholder extends voluntarily after the Act started, ground rent on the extended portion is a peppercorn. The Act does not rewrite the rent on the years that were already in the old lease. A home survey does not calculate either rent.

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 peppercorn rule for most new long residential leases in England and Wales started on 30 June 2022. Retirement properties were not brought in before 1 April 2023. Existing leases were left alone. A voluntary extension is the case the guidance treats differently from a brand-new lease and from a statutory extension: only the added years drop to a peppercorn. You still need the lease, and any deed of variation, to see the rent that is actually reserved.

The survey of the flat tells you about damp, the roof and the services it could see. It does not read the rent review clause. Ask your solicitor to check the term and the rent, and to say whether an extension is even on the table. Do not subtract a ground-rent figure from the price because a survey gave a roof a rating 2.

What should you ask your surveyor?

Are you making any comment on the lease, or only on the building?
What should the solicitor read that was not in the inspection?
Which building defects would still matter if the rent on the extension were a peppercorn?

What are the typical next steps?

Ask the solicitor to confirm the current rent and what would happen on a voluntary extension.
Do not assume the whole rent becomes a peppercorn on the day you complete an extension.
Keep lease negotiations and survey repairs in separate notes.

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 a statutory extension get the same treatment?

GOV.UK says statutory lease extensions remain outside the Act and are unchanged by it. Do not brief your solicitor as if the two routes were the same.

Does the surveyor have to warn you about ground rent?

No. Ground rent is a legal term. If they mention it, still get the solicitor to read the lease.