Owning a flat usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a finite term of years. This lease will ordinarily be granted for a prescribed period of time , usually 99 or 125 years, although we have seen longer and shorter terms in Queen's Park. Clearly, the term of lease remaining shortens as time goes by. This may slip by relatively unnoticed when the flat or house has to be sold or refinanced. The shorter the lease the lower the value of the property and the more it will cost to extend the lease. Eligible long lease owners in Queen's Park have the right to extend the lease for an additional ninety years in accordance with legislation. You should give due consideration before putting off your Queen's Park lease extension. Holding off the cost now simply increases the price you will ultimately have to pay to extend your lease
It is conventional wisdom that a property with in excess of 100 years remaining is worth approximately the equivalent as a freehold. Where an further ninety years added to any lease with more than 45 years unexpired, the property will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years in the future.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Halifax | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| Lloyds TSB Scotland | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| National Westminster Bank | Mortgage term plus 30 years. For Shared Ownership, the remaining term of the lease must be at least 75 years plus the term of the mortgage at the outset 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 |
| Royal Bank of Scotland | Mortgage term plus 30 years. |
The lawyers that we work with handle Queen's Park 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.
Half a year ago Aarav, came precariously close to the 80-year mark with the lease on his basement flat in Queen's Park. In buying his home 18 years ago, the length of the lease was of no concern. As luck would have it, he realised he would imminently be paying way over the odds for a lease extension. Aarav arranged for a lease extension just in the nick of time in August. Aarav and the freeholder eventually settled on a premium of £6,000 . If the lease had dipped lower than eighty years, the premium would have become more costly by a minimum £950.
Last July we were called by Mrs Olivia Rivera , who was assigned a lease of a one bedroom flat in Queen's Park in August 2012. The question was if we could estimate the premium would be for a ninety year lease extension. Comparable flats in Queen's Park with an extended lease were in the region of £285,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £55 invoiced per annum. The lease terminated in 2105. Considering the 79 years left we approximated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be between £13,300 and £15,400 not including legals.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Queen's Park flat is 4 & 4A Charteris Road in June 2009. the Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the enfranchisement of 4/4a Charteris Road to be £15,510 for at 4and £15,694 for at 4a This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 70.02 years.