Owning a flat usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a finite term of years. This lease will normally be granted for a prescribed period of time , ordinarily 99 or 125 years, although we have witnessed longer and shorter terms in Grays. Inevitably, the period of lease left shortens as time goes by. This is often overlooked and only raises itself as an issue when the property has to be sold or refinanced. The fewer the years remaining the lower the value of the property and the more it will cost to procure a lease extension. Eligible leaseholders in Grays have the right to extend the lease for a further 90 years under statute. You should give due consideration before delaying your Grays lease extension. Putting off that expense now simply increases the price you will ultimately incur to extend your lease
It is conventional wisdom that a property with more than 100 years unexpired lease term is worth approximately the same as a freehold. Where an additional ninety years added to any lease with more than 45 years remaining, the premises will be worth the same as a freehold for many years ahead.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Barnsley Building Society | 60 years from the date of the mortgage application subject to 35 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term. |
| Halifax | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| National Westminster Bank | Mortgage term plus 30 years. |
| 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 |
| 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. |
Using our service gives you increased control over the value of your Grays leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and saleable in terms of lease length should you wish to sell. The conveyancing solicitors that we work with are well versed in the legislation handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
Trailing lengthy discussions with the freeholder of her ground floor apartment in Grays, Amber started the lease extension process as the 80 year mark was quickly approaching. The transaction was concluded in June 2005. The freeholder’s costs were kept to an absolute minimum.
Ms Emily Kelly owned a garden flat in Grays in October 1998. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) price would be for a 90 year lease extension. Identical flats in Grays with 100 year plus lease were worth £285,000. The average amount of ground rent was £55 billed every twelve months. The lease came to a finish on 18 April 2105. Given that there were 80 years remaining we estimated the compensation to the freeholder to extend the lease to be between £12,400 and £14,200 not including expenses.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Grays premises is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case affected 13 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 76 years.