What marriage value means in plain English
Think of two interests that are worth more together than apart: the leaseholder’s short lease and the landlord’s freehold interest. Extending the lease “marries” those interests for valuation purposes. The increase in the flat’s value that comes from that longer lease is what LEASE calls marriage value.
It is not a fixed fee, a government charge, or the same thing as ground rent. It is a valuation concept used when working out the premium for a statutory lease extension of a flat in England and Wales.
Official definition and detail: LEASE — marriage value.
The 80-year threshold (why timing matters)
GOV.UK states that the cost of extending a lease increases significantly once 80 years or fewer remain. Under the current rules summarised by LEASE, marriage value is payable when the unexpired term is 80 years or fewer at the valuation date. That date is the date the formal Section 42 notice is served—not the date you first look at a calculator.
If more than 80 years remain at that notice date, marriage value is treated as zero under the current statutory framework. That is why leaseholders often hear that timing around the 80-year mark matters for cost, even though other premium components still apply either side of the threshold.
See GOV.UK — extending, changing or ending a lease and LEASE on the 80-year rule.
How marriage value sits inside the full premium
The premium is not marriage value alone. LEASE’s valuation guidance explains that the landlord’s compensation typically also reflects the loss of ground rent and the delay in getting the property back (the reversion), plus any other proven losses that apply to the case.
Marriage value, when it applies, is shared equally between landlord and leaseholder under the current rules LEASE describes. How large that share is depends on the before-and-after values a specialist uses—not on a single “typical” band published here.
For the wider budget (premium plus fees), read our full lease extension cost breakdown. For the legal overview, see lease extension (England & Wales).
Premium components: LEASE — lease extension valuation.
What an online calculator can and cannot do
An online estimator can show how remaining term, ground rent and property value affect a simplified illustration. Both LEASE and Lease Extension Pro treat calculator outputs as a guide—not a negotiated premium or a figure to put on a Section 42 notice.
Lease Extension Pro withholds a full premium illustration at 80 years or fewer precisely because marriage value and lease relativity need case-specific assessment. Use the lease extension calculator to explore sensitivity above that threshold, then read how the formal lease extension process works before any notice is served.
Official estimator framing: LEASE lease extension calculator.
Practical next steps for leaseholders
Before treating any illustration as a plan:
- Confirm the unexpired term on your lease and, where needed, the Land Registry title.
- Instruct a specialist enfranchisement valuer before serving a formal notice—especially if you are at or near 80 years.
- Ask a solicitor what eligibility, notice timing and cost recovery rules apply to your flat.
This page is educational only. It is not legal or valuation advice. Use our solicitor selection checklist for questions to ask—not as a directory of recommended firms.
Reform caveat
- In force: You no longer need to have owned your flat for two years before claiming a statutory lease extension. Section 27 of the Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 came into force on 31 January 2025 (SI 2025/57).
- Not yet in force: The Act’s new valuation method — no marriage value, ground rent capped at 0.1% of the freehold value in the calculation, and government-prescribed deferment and capitalisation rates — and the right to a 990-year extension. On legislation.gov.uk these provisions (sections 33, 36 and 37) are still shown as not yet commenced, and none of the four commencement regulations made so far brings them into force.
- What the government says: It consulted on the valuation rates from 15 July to 21 October 2026. It says the new method cannot be brought into force until those rates are set in regulations, and that some "specific flaws" in the 2024 Act must first be fixed through a forthcoming Commonhold and Leasehold Reform Bill. No commencement date has been announced.
- What this means today: Until those provisions commence, statutory lease extensions of flats still use the existing 1993 Act rules: a 90-year extension at a peppercorn ground rent, and marriage value payable where 80 years or fewer remain. Our calculator models only that existing framework, in simplified form.
Sources: Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act 2024 · SI 2025/57 · GOV.UK valuation rates consultation. See our leasehold reform tracker for the provision-by-provision table. This is not legal advice — ask your solicitor which rules apply on the date your notice is served.
Re-check GOV.UK and LEASE before acting, and ask your advisers which rules apply on your notice date. This page does not speculate on future rates or commencement dates.