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@danstuff is right - get the current seller to kick the process off if you can.
The only distinction on this advice is to try to make sure they're extending via the statutory S42 process rather than the informal agreement with freeholder process. The former process will mean you get the exact same lease as the current buyer. The latter process may mean you end up with new onerous terms at the whim of the freeholder - terms which the seller may not care about since they won't need to deal with them, you will.
My pal bought a flat on this basis and the seller extended via the informal agreement process and inadvertently picked up a new clause linking ground rent to RPI. Honestly if that's the worst he got I'd consider him quite lucky, but it is an uncertainty you don't want to have to deal with.
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ReekBlefs
dbr
The flat we're trying to buy has a 67 year lease. Do we get the current owner to extend so we buy with a new lease (security, cheaper now, no legal nonsense for us to deal with now, but we don't get to negotiate the terms), or do we buy with a short lease and extend ourselves later, either mutually or statutorily? The flat below is up for sale, and is in the same situation. I'm not sure if the freeholder would sell (they do appear to be happy to extend) and it seems that as lowly almost-buyers were not even allowed to know who they are or contact them.
We've had a mortgage approved based on the current lease length.