Free cash offer
Enter your postcode to get an immediate cash offer for your property
Free cash offer
Enter your postcode to get an immediate cash offer for your property
Selling a property with a short lease can be difficult. It often means fewer buyers, mortgage issues, and falling valuations. But we can help. We work with the UK’s fastest cash buyers, and can help you sell and move on quickly without any hassle.
5.0 / 16 reviews
Lease length plays a crucial role in how your property is valued. And how easy it is to sell. Once a lease falls below 80 years, most mortgage lenders consider the property high-risk, shrinking your pool of eligible buyers. Even if a buyer is interested, they may insist you extend the lease before proceeding with the sale, which will cost you steeply in time and money. It’s a difficult financial and logistical hurdle.
If you’re selling a flat with a low lease, you may have noticed how traditional methods just don’t work. At Instant Home Offers, we offer a fairer and faster solution that works on your terms, not the market’s. No chains. No time-wasting viewings. No endless paperwork.
Step 1
Complete our form or contact us at 0204 578 2156. We’ll ask you to share some key details about the property which we’ll send to our valuation team.
We guarantee we’ll offer on any property – no matter the lease length.
Step 2
We’ll share a free, no-obligation offer-in-principle within 24 hours. Typically, this is 20% under market value. (Beware cash buyers that offer higher, as their offers are often too good to be true.) If you accept, we’ll instruct an independent RICS qualified surveyor to assess the condition and location of your property, and we’ll give you a fair and final offer.
We guarantee we will not slash or lower our final offer.
Step 3
If you accept our final offer, we’ll assign a dedicated progression manager to you to guide you every step of the way. We’ll also cover your solicitor fees and take care of all the paperwork. Whether you’re downsizing, relocating, or selling probate property, our goal is to remove friction and give you options. You choose the completion date. You stay in control. With us, you can exchange in 24 hours and receive payment in 7 days.
No lease extension required. No surveys. No time wasted on dropped deals.
An alternative option
If you sell for cash, you’re likely to get an offer that’s 20% under market value. But you can also sell by auction, which will get you closer to market value (19% to 14% under). We offer this service for free, unlike other companies that charge a 2% commission. You set the reserve price and the deadlines, and you reach a wider audience.
We guarantee the auction winner will be legally bound to exchange.
We understand you’re not just selling a property with a low lease – you’re trying to move on. As quick property buying specialists, we’re confident in our ability to make an offer on your property no matter its lease length. And in the rare event that we can’t buy your property ourselves, we’ll help you sell it by auction – completely free of charge.
We know that Instant Home Offers will be one of many companies you reach out to sell your low-lease flat or house. This is sensible. You want the best offer you can get. However, best does not always equal highest, as many of our clients have learnt the hard way. There are plenty of quick sale companies guilty of gazundering – that is, making a high offer that they lower at a later date. We guarantee we do not gazunder. We guarantee we will not lower our final offer.
As members of the National Association of Property Buyers, we’re registered with The Property Ombudsman and
Trading Standards, and follow a strict Code of Practice to treat our sellers fairly and with dignity.
Many of our clients have experienced months, sometimes years, of frustration on the open market trying to sell their property with a short lease. We’ve helped them. And we can help you move forward.
5.0 / 16 reviews
In the UK, a short lease can significantly reduce a property’s market value. Once a lease drops below 80 years, the cost of extending it rises sharply due to what’s known as ‘marriage value’, which must be paid to the freeholder. According to the Leasehold Advisory Service (LEASE), a flat with a lease below 70 years can be devalued by 10–20%, while leases under 60 years may see reductions of 25% or more. The closer the lease gets to zero, the harder it becomes to sell or remortgage the property, especially as most mortgage lenders require at least 70 to 80 years remaining on the lease.
Yes, you can sell a flat with a short lease in the UK, but it typically requires a different approach than selling a standard leasehold property. Mainstream or traditional buyers are discouraged by short leases due to mortgage restrictions, potential lease extension costs, and legal complexity. However, quick sale companies like Instant Home Offers can purchase short lease flats outright. Selling via a traditional estate agent can be time-consuming and uncertain, so many sellers opt for direct sale services that don’t require a lease extension.
To sell a flat with a short lease in the UK, you typically have three options: extend the lease before selling (if you qualify), sell to a cash buyer who understands the leasehold market, or sell the property by auction. Extending the lease can increase the sale price but requires ownership of the property for at least two years and involves significant legal and surveyor costs. Alternatively, selling to a quick sale company like Instant Home Offers can provide a quicker sale with fewer complications (assuming, of course, the company follows a strict code of conduct and does not stoop to gazundering).