Homeowners selling flats with short leases face an average asking price £48,250 below the wider flat market in England, a 22.1% discount, according to research from House Buyer Bureau.

The average short lease flat is currently listed for £170,201, compared with £218,451 for the wider flat market, figures from the 'quick buy' property firm showed.

Yorkshire and the Humber has the largest discount at 35.2%, with short lease flats marketed at an average of £82,675 compared with £127,668 for flats overall. The North East follows with a 32.7% discount, while the East of England and West Midlands record discounts of 30.7% and 30.1% respectively.

London has the smallest discount at 11%, despite having one of the largest numbers of short lease flats on the market, reflecting stronger demand for apartments.

The bureau said the financial impact can extend beyond the lower sale price because many mortgage lenders impose minimum lease requirements, reducing the pool of potential buyers, meaning the shorter the lease, the smaller the pool of buyers able to proceed.

Those who remain are also likely to factor the future cost of extending the lease into any offer they make. The cost of extending a lease can also exceed £12,500 for leases approaching 100 years remaining and rise above £33,000 when fewer than 60 years remain.

As a result, many sellers face a difficult choice between paying thousands of pounds to improve the property's marketability or accepting a substantial discount to secure a sale.

Chris Hodgkinson, managing director of House Buyer Bureau, said: "One of the biggest misconceptions is that a short lease only affects the value of your flat. In reality, it can affect whether you're able to sell it at all.

"The longer a lease is left, the more expensive it usually becomes to extend, while at the same time attracting fewer buyers. That leaves many sellers caught between spending thousands of pounds before they can move, or accepting a much lower offer than they expected."

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