If you are facing a significant premium because your lease in Brixham has dropped toward the 80-year mark, your previous lawyer may be at fault. Our panel of experts specialise in recovering lease extension costs from negligent firms who failed to protect your investment.
Main reasons to commence your Brixham lease extension today:
A Brixham leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.
When it comes to long leasehold property in Brixham, you effectively rent it for a certain period of time. In recent years flat leases are usually granted for 99 years or 125. Even though this may appear like a long period of time, you may think about extending the lease sooner rather than later. The general rule is that the shorter the number of years is the cost of extending the lease becomes disproportionately greater especially when there are less than eighty years left. Residents in Brixham with a lease drawing near to 81 years unexpired should seriously think of extending it sooner as opposed to later. When the lease term has below 80 years outstanding, under the current Act the freeholder can calculate and demand a greater amount, based on a technical computation, known as “marriage value” which is due.
An extended lease has roughly the same value as a freehold
Leasehold properties in Brixham with over one hundred years left on the lease are often referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your property. In such circumstances there is often little to be gained by purchasing the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and estate charges justify it.
Mortgage lenders may not finance a property with a short lease
Banks and building societies are distinct in their lending requirements. Some draw the line at seventy five years remaining on the lease; others may be content with anything with more than 70 years. Below 60 years, it may be problematic to get a mortgage at all.
| Lender |
Requirement
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| Accord Mortgages |
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.
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| Birmingham Midshires |
Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
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| Leeds Building Society |
85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage.
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| National Westminster Bank |
Mortgage term plus 30 years.
For Shared Ownership, the remaining term of the lease must be at least 30 years plus the term of the mortgage at the outset of the mortgage.
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| Nationwide Building Society |
- Our minimum unexpired lease term is 55 years, except where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat, in which case our minimum unexpired term is 90 years.
- There must be at least 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term (regardless of the length of lease at the start).
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:
Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
- Where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat and the unexpired lease term on the offer is 90 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 90 years.
New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 55 years
- Unexpired lease term less than 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period is less than or equal to 5 years
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 55 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial, etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years (Minimum 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat)
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined)
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house (does not apply to Shared Ownership)
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn Ground Rent (Annual Rent) charges
For the avoidance of doubt, any New Build properties completed but not sold pre-30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the Lease conforms to the above guidance.
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years.
Lease Extensions We require all Lease Extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where a proposed Lease Extension does not meet these requirements, however you feel that this is in the best interest for our mutual client, please refer all details to the Issuing Office for us to consider.
Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.
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Get in touch with one of our Brixham lease extension solicitors or enfranchisement solicitors
The lawyers that we work with procure Brixham lease extensions and help protect your position. A lease extension can be arranged to be completed to coincide with a change of ownership so the costs of the lease extension are paid for using part of the sale proceeds. You really do need expert legal advice in this difficult and technical area of law. The conveyancing solicitor we work with provide it.
Brixham Lease Extension Case Studies:
Tommy, Brixham, Devon
Last year Tommy, came very close to the 80-year threshold with the lease on his ground floor flat in Brixham. In buying his property two decades ago, the unexpired term was of little significance. Fortunately, he became aware that he needed to take action soon on a lease extension. Tommy arranged for a lease extension at the eleventh hour last September. Tommy and the landlord ultimately agreed on the final figure of £6,000 . If he had missed the deadline, the amount would have gone up by a minimum £1,125.
Brixham case:
Last Autumn we were e-mailed by Mr and Mrs. P Morris , who
bought a one bedroom flat in Brixham in August 2000. We are asked if we could estimate the compensation to the landlord would likely be for a ninety year lease extension. Comparative residencies in Brixham with an extended lease were worth £285,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £55 billed every twelve months. The lease terminated in 2105. Considering the 79 years unexpired we estimated the compensation to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £13,300 and £15,400 plus costs.
Brixham case:
In 2010 we were contacted by Mrs E Young who, having took over the lease of a garden flat in Brixham in April 2001. The question was if we could estimate the price would be to prolong the lease by an additional years. Identical homes in Brixham with a long lease were valued around £193,400. The average amount of ground rent was £65 collected yearly. The lease ran out on 23 February 2085. Given that there were 59 years as a residual term we approximated the premium to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £21,900 and £25,200 not including legals.