Owning a apartment usually means owning a lease of the property, this is a ‘time-limited’ interest becoming shorter every day. your lease will normally be granted for a prescribed period of time , usually 99 or 125 years, although we have come across longer and shorter terms in Bexley. Inevitably, the term of lease remaining reduces over time. This may pass by relatively unnoticed when the residence has to be disposed of or refinanced. The shorter the lease the lower the value of the property and the more it will cost to extend the lease. Qualifying long lease owners in Bexley have the legal entitlement to extend the lease for a further 90 years under Leasehold Reform legislation. You should give careful deliberation before putting off your Bexley lease extension. Holding off the cost now simply increases the price you will ultimately incur to extend your lease
It is generally considered that a residential leasehold with more than one hundred years remaining is worth approximately the same as a freehold. Where an further 90 years added to all but the shortest lease, the residence will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years ahead.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Barclays plc | Leases with less than 70 years at the commencement of the mortgage should be declined (see exception below). Leases with greater than 70 years but fewer than 85 years remaining must be referred to issuing office. Leases with fewer than 70 years should only be referred to the issuing office where the following scenario applies, as discretion may be applied subject to bank approval: • Property is located in any of the following prestigious developments: Cadogan, Crown, Grosvenor, Howard de Walden, Portman or Wellcome Trust Estates in Central London AND • The value of the property subject to the short remaining term is £500,000 or more AND • The loan to value does not exceed 90% for purchases, 90% like for like re-mortgages, 80% for re-mortgages with any element of capital raising and 80% for existing Barclays mortgage borrowers applying for additional borrowing; |
| Barnsley Building Society | 60 years from the date of the mortgage application subject to 35 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term. |
| Godiva Mortgages | A minimum of 70 years unexpired lease at completion for all scheme types apart from Lifetime Mortgages (Equity Release), which require a minimum unexpired term of 80 years at completion. |
| Halifax | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| Yorkshire Building Society | 85 years from the date of completion of the mortgage. Please ensure that you explain the implications of a short term lease to the borrower. |
Using our service will provide you enhanced control over the value of your Bexley leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and marketable in terms of lease length should you wish to sell. The conveyancers that we work with are well versed in the legislation handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
John was the the leasehold proprietor of a studio flat in Bexley being marketed with a lease of a little over 61 years left. John informally spoke with his freeholder being a well known London-based freehold company for a lease extension. The landlord indicated a willingness to extend the lease to 125 years subject to a new rent at the outset set at £200 per annum and doubled every 25 years thereafter. Ordinarily, ground rent would not be payable on a lease extension were John to invoke his statutory right. John obtained expert legal guidance and was able to make a more informed judgement and handle with the matter and sell the flat.
Last Christmas we were e-mailed by Mr and Mrs. U Wilson , who purchased a garden flat in Bexley in February 2002. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) price would be for a 90 year lease extension. Comparative properties in Bexley with 100 year plus lease were in the region of £171,800. The average amount of ground rent was £55 billed every twelve months. The lease ran out on 23 September 2075. Considering the 50 years unexpired we estimated the premium to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £33,300 and £38,400 plus legals.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Bexley property is 103a Footscray Road in January 2014. The tribunal determines that the premium payable for the extended lease should be £34,500 according to the expert witness valuation calculation This case affected 1 flat.