Millom Lease Extension - Free Consultation

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Why you should start your Millom lease extension


Top reasons for lease extension now:

Increase your lease and increase your Millom property value

With a residential leasehold premises in Millom, you are actually buying an entitlement to reside in a property for a set period of time. Modern flat leases typically tend to be for 99 years or 125. Many leasehold owners are unconcerned as this seems like a lengthy period of time, you should consider extending the lease sooner rather than later. Accepted thinking is that the shorter the number of years is the cost of extending the lease increases markedly notably when there are fewer than 80 years left. Leasehold owners in Millom with a lease drawing near to 81 years remaining should seriously think of extending it as soon as possible. When the lease term has below eighty years remaining, under the current Act the landlord can calculate and charge a larger premium, based on a technical multiplication, strangely termed as “marriage value” which is due.

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

It is generally considered that a residential leasehold with more than one hundred years unexpired lease term is worth roughly the same as a freehold. Where an further 90 years added to any lease with more than 30 years remaining, the premises will be worth the same as a freehold for many years ahead.

Mortgage lenders may decide not to lend with a short lease

Mortgage lenders are less likely to grant a loan offer on a domestic property in Millom with a short lease. Many lenders simply refuse a mortgage on leases with under 75 years remaining.

Lender Requirement
Birmingham Midshires Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
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.
Lloyds TSB Scotland Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
Nationwide Building Society - Our minimum unexpired lease term is 55 years, except where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat, in which case our minimum unexpired term is 90 years.
- There must be at least 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term (regardless of the length of lease at the start).

Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:

Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
- Where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat and the unexpired lease term on the offer is 90 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 90 years.

New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer

Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.

SECOND HAND PROPERTIES

Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 55 years
- Unexpired lease term less than 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period is less than or equal to 5 years

Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 55 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial, etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary

Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years (Minimum 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat)
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI

NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)

Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined)
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house (does not apply to Shared Ownership)
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis

Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary

Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn Ground Rent (Annual Rent) charges

For the avoidance of doubt, any New Build properties completed but not sold pre-30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the Lease conforms to the above guidance.

* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years.

Lease Extensions

We require all Lease Extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to Issuing Office.
Royal Bank of Scotland Mortgage term plus 30 years.

Get in touch with one of our Millom lease extension solicitors or enfranchisement solicitors

The conveyancers that we work with handle Millom 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 conveyancer we work with provide it.

Millom Lease Extension Case Studies:

Anna, Millom, Cumbria,

Off the back of protracted negotiations with the freeholder of her purpose-built flat in Millom, Anna initiated the lease extension process just as her lease was nearing the crucial eighty-year threshold. The lease extension completed in October 2006. The landlord’s charges were negotiated to approximately five hundred pounds.

Millom case:

Mr and Mrs. O Rogers was assigned a lease of a purpose-built flat in Millom in April 2002. The question was if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) price would be to prolong the lease by 90 years. Similar homes in Millom with 100 year plus lease were valued around £166,400. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £60 invoiced per annum. The lease terminated in 2078. Having 54 years left we estimated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £32,300 and £37,400 exclusive of expenses.

Millom case:

Last month we were approach by Mr and Mrs. E Martínez , who purchased a basement flat in Millom in March 2003. We are asked if we could approximate the price would likely be to prolong the lease by a further 90 years. Comparable properties in Millom with a long lease were in the region of £227,800. The mid-range ground rent payable was £45 invoiced every twelve months. The lease concluded in 2089. Given that there were 65 years outstanding we estimated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £13,300 and £15,400 exclusive of professional charges.