Owning a flat usually means owning a lease of the property, this is a ‘time-limited’ interest becoming shorter every day. your lease will usually be granted for a fixed period of time , usually 99 or 125 years, although we have seen longer and shorter terms in Cheltenham. Clearly, the length of lease remaining shortens as time goes by. This is often ignored and only becomes a problem when the property needs to be sold or refinanced. The fewer the years remaining the lower the value of the property and the more it will cost to extend the lease. Qualifying long lease owners in Cheltenham have the legal entitlement to extend the lease for a further ninety years under statute. You should give due attention before putting off your Cheltenham lease extension. Holding off the cost now only increases the price you will ultimately have to pay to extend your lease
Leasehold properties in Cheltenham with over one hundred years remaining on the lease are often referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease value the same as a freehold interest in your home. In such circumstances there is often little upside in purchasing the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and maintenance charges merit it.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Chelsea 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. |
| Coventry Building Society | 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. |
| 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 |
| Virgin | 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion. |
Irrespective of whether you are a tenant or a landlord in Cheltenham,the lease extension solicitors that we work with will always be prepared to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their experience and the close ties they enjoy with Cheltenham valuers.
Following unsuccessful correspondence with the freeholder of her first floor apartment in Cheltenham, Lily initiated the lease extension process just as the lease was coming close to the critical eighty-year deadline. The lease extension completed in November 2010. The freeholder’s fees were kept to an absolute minimum.
Last Autumn we were phoned by Dr Logan Bennett , who purchased a purpose-built apartment in Cheltenham in April 2012. We are asked if we could approximate the price would likely be to extend the lease by ninety years. Comparable residencies in Cheltenham with 100 year plus lease were in the region of £235,200. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £45 invoiced yearly. The lease ran out in 2092. Given that there were 66 years remaining we calculated the premium to the landlord to extend the lease to be within £12,400 and £14,200 not including expenses.
In 2009 we were e-mailed by Ms Alexandra Johnson who, having was assigned a lease of a basement apartment in Cheltenham in September 2002. The dilemma was if we could approximate the price could be to extend the lease by a further 90 years. Comparative properties in Cheltenham with a long lease were valued around £280,000. The average ground rent payable was £55 collected every twelve months. The lease elapsed on 7 August 2103. Considering the 77 years remaining we approximated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be between £13,300 and £15,400 not including expenses.