Neston Lease Extension - Free Consultation

Before you progress with your lease extension in Neston
Get a quote from one of our lease extension experts with over 20 years experience.

Let them guide you for FREE on the various options available to you.

It may end up saving you thousands.

Top reasons for Neston lease extension


Why you should commence your Neston lease extension today:

A Neston leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

Neston leases on domestic deteriorating in value. if your lease has about 90 years unexpired, you should start thinking about a lease extension. If lease term is under 80 years, you will then be required to pay 50% of the property's 'marriage value' on top of the standard cost of the lease extension to the landlord. Marriage value is the amount of additional value that a lease extension will add to the property. Flat owners in Neston will usually qualify for a lease extension; however it’s a good idea to check with a conveyancer to confirm your eligibility. In some cases you may not qualify. There are prescribed deadlines and formalities to follow once the process has commenced so it’s prudent to be guided by a lawyer during the process.

Neston property with a lease extension has roughly the same value as a freehold

Leasehold properties in Neston with in excess of one hundred years unexpired on the lease are often 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 maintenance charges justify it.

Banks and Building Societies may not finance a property on a short lease

Whether or not the lease is be regarded as a short lease depends on the specific mortgage company, yet mortgage lenders start to get concerned at around 75 years. This may be problematic when you need to dispose of or remortgage your flat as it will be effectively unmortgageable. Even though you might not have an imminent plan to sell but when you do your buyer must wait 2 years before they can commence the legal procedures for a lease extension.

Lender Requirement
Birmingham Midshires Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
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
TSB Minimum of 70 years at mortgage commencement, with 30 years remaining at mortgage redemption.
The Mortgage Works Minimum unexpired lease term is 70 years with 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term.
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

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 70 years
- 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 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 70 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 1.0% 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
- 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
- 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 reviewed and altered on any review basis or methodology

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 1.0% 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 the Issuing Office
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 Neston?

The conveyancers that we work with procure Neston 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 lawyer we work with provide it.

Neston Lease Extension Case Studies:

Maisie, Neston, Cheshire,

Trailing unsuccessful negotiations with the freeholder of her garden apartment in Neston, Maisie started the lease extension process as the 80 year deadline was fast coming. The lease extension was finalised in May 2014. The landlord’s fees were kept to an absolute minimum.

Neston case:

Last Spring we were approach by Ms Alexandra Turner , who acquired a studio flat in Neston in March 2003. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) premium could be for a 90 year lease extension. Comparative flats in Neston with a long lease were in the region of £200,000. The average ground rent payable was £50 invoiced yearly. The lease lapsed in 2102. Taking into account 78 years left we estimated the premium to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £8,600 and £9,800 plus fees.

Neston case:

In 2009 we were called by Ms Melissa Peterson who, having was assigned a lease of a one bedroom flat in Neston in May 1999. The question was if we could approximate the price would be for a ninety year lease extension. Comparative premises in Neston with an extended lease were valued about £267,600. The average ground rent payable was £65 invoiced per annum. The lease came to a finish on 20 April 2091. Given that there were 67 years outstanding we approximated the compensation to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £14,300 and £16,400 not including expenses.