Stop! Your Lease Extension in Colney Hatch Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Colney Hatch 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 Colney Hatch 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 Colney Hatch lease extension


Main reasons to start your Colney Hatch lease extension today:

A Colney Hatch leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

With a residential leasehold premises in Colney Hatch, you are actually purchasing an entitlement to live in a property for a prescribed time frame. In recent years flat leases are usually granted for 99 years or 125. Many leasehold owners become complacent as this seems like a lengthy period of time, you should consider extending the lease sooner as opposed to later. The general rule is that the shorter the number of years is the cost of extending the lease increases markedly notably once there are less than eighty years left. Residents in Colney Hatch with a lease nearing 81 years unexpired should seriously think of extending it as soon as possible. When a lease has under eighty years remaining, under the current legislation the freeholder is entitled to calculate and levy a greater amount, based on a technical calculation, strangely termed as “marriage value” which is due.

An extended lease is almost the same value as a freehold

Leasehold residencies in Colney Hatch with in excess of one hundred years remaining 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 premises. In such situations there is often little to be gained by buying the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and maintenance charges justify it.

Banks and Building Societies may not grant a mortgage on a short lease

Most banks have constrained their lending criteria in the last ten years and borrowers are finding it increasingly difficult to raise finance or re-mortgage against flats with shorter lease terms, particularly under 75 years as they are considered to be insufficient for lending purposes.

Lender Requirement
Bank of Scotland Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
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.
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
Royal Bank of Scotland Mortgage term plus 30 years.
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.

Why use us for your lease extension in Colney Hatch?

Lease extensions in Colney Hatch can be a difficult process. We recommend you obtain professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area.

We provide you with an expert from a selection of lease extension solicitors, which ensures a targeted and efficient service as you have a dedicated port of call with an individual lawyer. Our lease extension solicitors have a wealth of experience dealing with Colney Hatch lease extensions and further afield, as well as any potential issues which may arise as well as problems with the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.

Colney Hatch Lease Extension Case Studies:

Ellie, Colney Hatch, North London,

Following unsuccessful discussions with the freeholder of her leasehold apartment in Colney Hatch, Ellie commenced the lease extension process as the 80 year deadline was swiftly approaching. The lease extension was finalised in October 2012. The freeholder’s costs were negotiated to under 600 pounds.

Colney Hatch case:

Mr and Mrs. S Mitchell acquired a one bedroom flat in Colney Hatch in September 1996. We are asked if we could estimate the price would likely be to extend the lease by an additional years. Comparable residencies in Colney Hatch with an extended lease were worth £200,000. The average ground rent payable was £50 invoiced per annum. The lease ran out in 2103. Taking into account 77 years remaining we approximated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £8,600 and £9,800 not including fees.

Decision in Barnet

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Colney Hatch property is 90 & 96 Poplar Grove in June 2013. It was held by the Tribunal that the premium to be paid for the new lease in respect of each of the flats referred should be £17,942 This case affected 2 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 68 years.