Unfortunately that a Chinatown residential lease is a wasting asset. The lease value reduces in proportion to its lease length. The extent of this is not fully appreciated in the early years due to the deflation being disguised by increases in the Chinatown property prices.Once your lease gets to 85ish years, you need to start considering a lease extension. If lease term falls under eighty years, you will then be required to pay 50% of the property's 'marriage value' on top of the usual cost of the lease extension to the landlord. Marriage value is the amount of additional value that a lease extension will add the property The majority of flat owners in Chinatown will be able to extend under the legislation; however a conveyancer should be able to clarify if you are eligibility. In some situations you may not be entitled. There are also strict timeframes and procedures to follow once the process is instigated and you will need to be guided by your conveyancer from beginning to end of the formalities.
It is conventional wisdom that a property with more than one hundred years unexpired lease term is worth roughly the same as a freehold. Where an additional ninety years added to all but the shortest lease, the premises will be equivalent in value to a freehold for decades to come.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Accord Mortgages | |
| Bank of Scotland | |
| Barclays plc | |
| Godiva Mortgages | |
| Royal Bank of Scotland |
Using our service will provide you better control over the value of your Chinatown leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and saleable in terms of lease length should you wish to sell. The conveyancers that we work with have a in-depth market knowledge handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
Kai owned a 2 bedroom apartment in Chinatown on the market with a lease of fraction over 61 years unexpired. Kai on an informal basis approached his freeholder a well known London-based freehold company for a lease extension. The freeholder was prepared to grant an extension on non-statutory terms taking the lease to 125 years subject to an increased rent to £50 yearly. Ordinarily, ground rent would not be payable on a lease extension were Kai to invoke his statutory right. Kai procured expert legal guidance and was able to make a more informed decision and deal with the matter and readily saleable.
In 2012 we were called by Dr I Allen who, having was assigned a lease of a purpose-built flat in Chinatown in November 2008. The dilemma was if we could estimate the premium would likely be to extend the lease by an additional years. Comparative properties in Chinatown with an extended lease were valued about £205,000. The average amount of ground rent was £50 collected annually. The lease terminated on 27 October 2105. Given that there were 79 years outstanding we estimated the premium to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £8,600 and £9,800 exclusive of costs.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Chinatown residence is 36 New Wanstead in August 2010. The Tribunal arrived at a valuation of the premium for the freehold of £22,359. This case affected 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 73.92 years.