Your Selling Options Compared

If you own a flat with a short lease in London, you have four realistic routes to selling it. Each comes with trade-offs around price, speed, cost and certainty. This guide sets out the honest pros and cons of each option so you can make an informed decision based on your own circumstances.

The right choice depends on three things: how quickly you need to sell, how much cash you can put up front, and how much risk you are willing to take on price. We will walk through each option in detail.

Option 1: Sell through an estate agent

This is the route most people consider first. You instruct a local agent, they market the property on Rightmove and Zoopla, arrange viewings and negotiate offers on your behalf.

Pros

• Potential to achieve a higher price if the right buyer comes along
• Agents handle marketing, viewings and negotiations
• Broad market exposure through property portals
• You remain in control of the asking price and can reject offers

Cons

• Short lease flats are significantly harder to sell on the open market. Many agents will be upfront about this - some may decline the instruction altogether
• Properties with leases under 80 years regularly sit unsold for 6-12 months or longer
• Most buyers need a mortgage, and lenders will not lend on short leases. This cuts out roughly 90% of your potential buyer pool
• Commission fees of 1-3% plus VAT. On a £300,000 sale, that is 3,600 to £10,800
• Sales falling through is common. According to industry data, around 30% of agreed sales collapse before completion. With short leases, the rate is higher because buyer solicitors flag the lease issue during due diligence
• Every month the property sits unsold, the lease gets shorter and the flat loses value

Best for: Flats with 80+ years remaining where you have no time pressure. Below 80 years, the buyer pool shrinks dramatically and the economics start to work against you.

Worked example

A two-bedroom flat in Clapham worth £450,000 with a long lease. With 65 years remaining, relativity tables suggest it is worth roughly 72% of that figure - around £324,000. After 8 months on the market, the owner accepts an offer of £310,000. Agent commission at 1.5% plus VAT costs £5,580. Net proceeds: £304,420. Meanwhile, the lease has dropped to just over 64 years.

Option 2: Sell at auction

Property auctions have become more popular for short lease flats because they attract cash buyers and investors who understand the leasehold market. You can go through a traditional auction house (such as Allsop, Savills Auctions or Barnard Marcus) or use a modern method auction with online bidding.

Pros

• Fixed completion date - typically 28 days after the hammer falls (traditional auction) or 56 days (modern method)
• Legally binding once the hammer falls. The buyer pays a 10% deposit immediately
• Attracts investors and cash buyers who actively look for short lease opportunities
• Competitive bidding can sometimes push the price above expectations
• The entire process from instruction to completion can take 6-10 weeks

Cons

• No guarantee your reserve price will be met. If it is not, the property does not sell and you have wasted time and money on legal preparation
• Auction fees are substantial. Entry fees of £500-£1,500 plus commission of 2-3% (sometimes plus VAT). Some auction houses also charge the buyer a premium, which can depress bids
• You need to have a legal pack prepared before auction, costing £500-£1,000 in solicitor fees
• Your property's guide price and sale price are publicly visible. If it fails to sell, this information follows the property and can weaken your position in future negotiations
• Auction buyers expect a discount. They are not paying the emotional premium that owner-occupiers might

Best for: Owners comfortable with price uncertainty who want a defined timeline. Particularly suited to flats that have already failed to sell through an agent, or leases under 60 years where the mortgage market is effectively closed.

Worked example

The same Clapham flat goes to auction with a guide price of £280,000-£300,000 and a reserve of £290,000. It sells for £295,000. Auction fees (entry fee plus 2.5% commission) total £8,875. Legal pack preparation cost £750. Net proceeds: £285,375. But the sale completed in 7 weeks rather than 8 months.

Option 3: Extend the lease first, then sell

On paper, this often looks like the smartest move. You extend the lease under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, which adds 90 years to whatever remains and reduces the ground rent to zero. A flat with 60 years becomes a flat with 150 years - a completely different proposition for buyers and lenders.

For a detailed comparison of this versus buying the freehold, see our guide on buying the freehold vs extending your lease.

Pros

• A longer lease significantly increases the flat's market value. Extending from 60 to 150 years could add 25-30% to the price
• Opens the property to mortgage-backed buyers, massively expanding your buyer pool
• You may recoup more than the cost of the extension through a higher sale price
• The flat becomes a standard, easy-to-sell property rather than a specialist purchase

Cons

• The formal (statutory) extension process takes 6-12 months from serving a Section 42 notice. An informal extension negotiated directly with the freeholder can be quicker but you lose legal protections
• The premium alone can be substantial. For a flat worth £400,000 (on a long lease) with 60 years remaining, the premium might be £40,000-£60,000. Add solicitor fees (£2,000-£4,000), surveyor fees (£1,000-£2,000), and the freeholder's reasonable costs, and the total outlay can reach £50,000-£70,000
• Below 80 years, marriage value kicks in. This is the additional amount the freeholder can claim because extending the lease creates value that did not previously exist. It can add 50% to the premium
• You need to fund the extension upfront before you sell. Some specialist lenders offer bridging loans for this purpose, but they carry interest costs
• There is no guarantee the higher sale price will fully cover your extension costs, fees and the time value of your money
• You must have owned the flat for at least two years to use the statutory route

Best for: Owners who can afford the upfront cost, have at least 12-18 months before they need to sell, and whose flat has a lease between 60-80 years where the extension arithmetic tends to work out positively.

Worked example

Our Clapham flat owner extends the lease from 65 to 155 years. The premium is £48,000. Solicitor and surveyor fees total £5,500. The freeholder's costs add another £3,000. Total outlay: £56,500. Nine months later, the flat sells through an agent for £430,000 (now it is a normal, mortgageable property). Agent commission at 1.5% plus VAT costs £7,740. Net proceeds: £365,760. A better result - but it required £56,500 in cash and nearly 18 months from start to finish.

Option 4: Sell directly to a cash buyer (like us)

Specialist cash buyers - including our service - purchase short lease flats directly from owners. We handle the lease complexities ourselves after completion. There is no chain, no mortgage dependency, and no risk of the sale falling through.

Pros

• Completion in 2-4 weeks. We have completed purchases in as little as 10 working days when needed
• Guaranteed sale - once we make an offer and you accept, we do not pull out
• No fees, no commission, no legal costs for you. We cover your reasonable solicitor fees
• We buy any lease length - even under 30 years where most other options fall away
• No need to extend the lease first. No need to prepare legal packs or marketing materials
• No viewings, no strangers walking through your home, no weekend open houses
• We can work around your timeline if you need a specific completion date

Cons

• The offer will be below the full market value of the flat with a long lease. We are transparent about this. We need to factor in the cost of extending the lease ourselves, plus the risk and holding costs involved
• You are trading price for speed and certainty. For some owners, that trade-off makes perfect sense. For others, it may not

Best for: Owners who need to sell quickly (divorce, inheritance, relocation, financial pressure), cannot afford a lease extension, have a very short lease (under 50 years) where other options are limited, or simply want a clean, guaranteed exit from a difficult property.

Worked example

The Clapham flat owner receives a cash offer of £290,000 from us. No fees, no commission, no legal costs. Net proceeds: £290,000. The sale completes in 3 weeks. Less than the extended-and-sold route, but no upfront outlay, no risk, and no 18-month wait.

Quick comparison table

	Estate agent	Auction	Extend first	Cash buyer
Typical timeline	6-12+ months	6-10 weeks	12-18 months	2-4 weeks
Upfront costs	Minimal	500-1,500	50,000-70,000+	None
Sale certainty	Low	Medium	Medium-High	Guaranteed
Price achieved	Variable	Below market	Highest potential	Below market
Fees	1-3% + VAT	2-3% + entry	Agent fees after	Zero

Which option is right for you?

There is no one-size-fits-all answer. But here are some practical rules of thumb based on what we see every day:

• 80+ years on the lease? You probably have time. An estate agent is a reasonable starting point, though consider extending the lease anyway to maximise value
• 60-80 years? Extending first is often the best financial outcome, but only if you have the cash and the patience. If not, a cash sale avoids the lease dropping below the critical 80-year threshold while you wait
• Under 60 years? Your options narrow significantly. The flat is unmortgageable for most buyers, extension costs are high because of marriage value, and estate agents will struggle to find buyers. A cash sale or auction becomes the realistic path
• Under 30 years? A direct cash sale is likely your only practical option. Very few buyers will touch a lease this short, and extension premiums can exceed the flat's current value

If you are unsure which route makes sense for your situation, give us a call on 020 7183 3022. We will give you an honest assessment of your options - even if selling to us is not the right one for you. You can also request a free valuation online to understand where you stand.