GUIDE · MORTGAGES & LEASEHOLD · Last reviewed August 2026
Can I get a mortgage on a short lease?
Short answer: yes, but your lender pool shrinks fast below 80 years remaining — and it can affect what you're able to borrow, not just which lenders will consider you.
Lease length is one of the most common reasons a mortgage application on a flat gets declined or delayed — and it's rarely explained clearly at the point you're viewing a property. Here's what actually matters.
What counts as a "short" lease?
Most mainstream UK lenders want to see at least 70–85 years remaining on the lease at the point of application, and — separately — enough years remaining after your mortgage term ends, often a minimum of 30–40 years. So a 30-year mortgage on a flat with 95 years left is usually fine; the same mortgage on a flat with 70 years left may not clear every lender's minimum unexpired term.
Why 80 years specifically matters
Below 80 years remaining,
"marriage value" applies if you want to extend the lease — a legal mechanism that shares the increase in the property's value between you and the freeholder, making extensions substantially more expensive. Lenders know this, and it factors into how they assess risk on shorter leases.
What happens if the lease is under 80 years?
- Your pool of willing lenders narrows — some high-street names decline outright below a set threshold
- You may be offered a lower loan-to-value, meaning a bigger deposit is required
- Some lenders adjust the multiple of your income they're willing to lend, not just the LTV — short leases sit alongside other restricted property types that higher-multiple products often exclude
- Cash buyers become more competitive in this segment, since they aren't affected by these restrictions
What are your options?
- Negotiate a price reduction that reflects the lease length and likely extension cost
- Ask the seller to start a lease extension before completion, if there's time — this can sometimes be assigned to you as part of the sale
- Use a specialist lender who's more comfortable with shorter leases, usually via a broker, though rates may be less competitive
- Factor the extension cost into your offer as if it's a repair bill, not an afterthought
2026 reform: what's changing
The Leasehold and Freehold Reform Act, working through implementation, proposes making it cheaper and easier to extend leases by removing marriage value entirely and standardising the calculation. This is expected to phase in over the next few years — see our full breakdown of the 2026 reform for what's actually changing and when, and worth asking a solicitor how close a specific property's timeline is to any relevant implementation date, since it could materially change extension costs.
See how lease length affects what you can actually borrow
Homabu's calculator adjusts your estimated mortgage automatically for lease length, including realistic lender restrictions.
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