Owning a apartment usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a set term of years. This lease will usually be granted for a set period of time , ordinarily 99 or 125 years, although we have witnessed longer and shorter terms in Becontree. Clearly, the period of lease remaining reduces over time. This is often overlooked and only raises itself as an issue when the residence has to be sold or refinanced. The shorter the lease the less it is worth and the more expensive it will be to extend the lease. Eligible long lease owners in Becontree have the legal entitlement to extend the lease for an additional 90 years in accordance with the 1993 Leasehold Reform Act. Please give careful consideration before putting off your Becontree lease extension. Putting off the cost now only increases the price you will eventually incur to extend your lease
Leasehold premises in Becontree with more than one hundred years remaining on the lease are sometimes referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your property. In such situations there is often little to be gained by purchasing the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and maintenance charges merit it.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Barnsley Building Society | 60 years from the date of the mortgage application subject to 35 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term. |
| Leeds Building Society | 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage. |
| Skipton Building Society | 85 years from the date of completion of the mortgage For Buy to Let cases: - lettings must not breach any of the lessee’s covenants; and - consent of the lessor to lettings must be obtained if necessary |
| TSB | Minimum of 70 years at mortgage commencement, with 30 years remaining at mortgage redemption. |
| Virgin | 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion. |
Retaining our service will provide you better control over the value of your Becontree leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and marketable in terms of lease length should you want to sell. The conveyancing solicitors that we work with are well versed in the legislation handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
George owned a 2 bedroom apartment in Becontree being marketed with a lease of just over fifty eight years outstanding. George on an informal basis approached his freeholder being a well known local-based freehold company for a lease extension. The freeholder was keen to grant an extension on non-statutory terms taking the lease to 125 years on the basis of a rise in the rent to £125 yearly. Ordinarily, ground rent would not be payable on a lease extension were George to exercise his statutory right. George procured expert advice and secured an acceptable deal informally and ending up with a market value flat.
Last Christmas we were contacted by Mrs M Gunderson , who took over the lease of a one bedroom apartment in Becontree in September 1996. We are asked if we could approximate the price would be to prolong the lease by an additional years. Similar homes in Becontree with an extended lease were in the region of £285,000. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £55 collected monthly. The lease expired on 27 January 2104. Taking into account 79 years remaining we estimated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £13,300 and £15,400 plus costs.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Becontree premises is 49 Aldborough Road South in July 2012. The Tribunal decided that the premium payable for the grant of the new lease was £13,925 This case related to 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 61.36 years.