Stop! Your Lease Extension in Chiswick Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Chiswick are unaware that their original lawyer had a duty to warn them about future mortgageability and saleability issues. Before you pay thousands to your freeholder, let us audit your purchase history. You might have a claim that pays for your lease extension in full

If you are facing a significant premium because your lease in Chiswick 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.

Top reasons for Chiswick lease extension


Why you should start your Chiswick lease extension today:

Increase your lease and increase your Chiswick property value

Chiswick leases on residential properties are gradually losing value. The shorter the remaining lease term becomes, the less it is worth – and as a result any extension of your lease becomes more expensive. Most owners of residential leasehold property in Chiswick enjoy rights under legislation to extend the terms of their leases. Where you are a leasehold owner in Chiswick you really ought to see if your lease has between 70 and 90 years left. There are good reasons why a Chiswick leaseholder with a lease having around 80 years remaining should take action to make sure that a lease extension is effected without delay

Chiswick property with a lease extension is almost the same value as a freehold

Leasehold properties in Chiswick with in excess of 100 years left 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 service charges merit it.

Mortgage lenders may not loan monies with a short lease

The propensity since over the last decade has been for mortgage companies to tighten lending criteria across the board - this has extended to the types of security over which the mortgage is to be granted. This has meant the unexpired lease term required by mortgage companies has increased. In the past mortgage companies were content with twenty years plus the term of the loan - typically fifty year leases but those requirements are being increasingly undermined by the requirement for lengthy leases - many now have a minimum term of 75 years as standard.

Lender Requirement
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.
Barclays plc Leases with less than 70 years at the commencement of the mortgage are not acceptable.

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;
Birmingham Midshires Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
Lloyds TSB Scotland Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
Santander You must report the unexpired lease term to us and await our instructions if:
1. the unexpired term assumed by our valuer is between 55 and 82 years, but the actual unexpired term differs by more than one year (whether longer or shorter); or
2. the unexpired term assumed by our valuer is more than 82 years but the actual unexpired term is less than 82 years; or
3. no valuation report is provided
However, we will not accept a lease where on expiry of the mortgage:
(i) less than 50 years remain and all or part of the loan is repaid on an interest-only basis: or
(ii) less than 30 years remain and the loan is repaid on a capital and interest basis

We will accept a lease that has been extended under the provisions of the Leasehold Reform Act 1993 provided statutory compensation would be available to the leaseholder.

Why use us for your lease extension in Chiswick?

The conveyancing solicitors that we work with undertake Chiswick 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.

Chiswick Lease Extension Example Cases:

Oscar, Chiswick, West London,

Oscar owned a 2 bedroom apartment in Chiswick on the market with a lease of a few days over sixty years left. Oscar informally spoke with his freeholder a well known Bristol-based freehold company for a lease extension. The landlord indicated a willingness to extend the lease to 125 years on the basis of a rise in the rent to £200 annually. Ordinarily, ground rent would not be payable on a lease extension were Oscar to exercise his statutory right. Oscar procured expert advice and secured an acceptable deal informally and sell the property.

Chiswick case:

In 2014 we were phoned by Mr and Mrs. G Ali who, having owned a garden apartment in Chiswick in July 2011. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) price could be to extend the lease by a further 90 years. Comparable residencies in Chiswick with an extended lease were in the region of £218,000. The average ground rent payable was £45 billed quarterly. The lease lapsed on 18 April 2089. Considering the 63 years outstanding we approximated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £17,100 and £19,800 plus fees.

Decision in Hounslow

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Chiswick flat is Flat 1 30 Ennismore Avenue in September 2010. the Tribunal adopted and arrived at a premium for the lease extension of £29, 900 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 68.34 years.