Court crushes leaseholders’ hopes

Leaseholders have been dealt a blow after a court ruling failed to make it cheaper for people to extend their lease or buy a freehold. Emma Lunn reports.

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Sloane Square in Chelsea: a landmark ruling here means it won't get cheaper to extend a lease
(Image credit: Credit: robertharding / Alamy Stock Photo)

Leaseholders were dealt a major blow last week when a landmark ruling by the Court of Appeal failed to make it cheaper for people to extend their lease or buy a freehold. The case, Mundy v the Sloane Stanley Estate, involved a small flat in Chelsea. The lease duration had fallen to less than 23 years, and the freeholder, the Sloane Stanley Estate, had sought £420,000 from the leaseholder to extend it.

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Emma Lunn

Emma Lunn is a multi-award-winning journalist who specialises in personal finance and consumer issues. With more than 18 years’ experience in personal finance, Emma has covered topics including mortgages, first-time buyers, leasehold, banking, debt, budgeting, broadband, energy, pensions and investments. Emma’s one of the most prolific freelance personal finance journalists with a back catalogue of work in newspapers such as The Guardian, The Independent, The Daily Telegraph, the Mail on Sunday and the Mirror. As a freelancer she has also completed various in-house contracts at The Guardian, The Independent, Mortgage Solutions, Orange and Moneywise. 

She also writes regularly for specialist magazines and websites such as Property Hub, Mortgage Strategy and YourMoney.com. She’s particularly proud of her work writing about the leasehold sector and a Guardian front-page story about a dodgy landlord. She has a real passion for helping people learn about money – especially when many people are struggling to get by in today’s challenging economic climate – and prides herself on simplifying complex subjects.