With a long leasehold premises in Wembley, you are in fact renting it for a certain period of time. In recent years flat leases are usually granted for 99 years or 125. Many leasehold owners become complacent as this seems like a long period of time, you should think about extending the lease sooner rather than later. The general rule is that the shorter the number of years is the cost of extending the lease gets disproportionately greater especially once there are less than 80 years remaining. Anyone in Wembley with a lease approaching 81 years unexpired should seriously think of extending it without delay. Once the lease term has less than eighty years remaining, under the current legislation the freeholder can calculate and demand a larger amount, based on a technical calculation, known as “marriage value” which is payable.
It is generally accepted that a residential leasehold with more than one hundred years remaining is worth approximately the equivalent as a freehold. Where an further 90 years added to any lease with more than 30 years left, the residence will be worth the same as a freehold for many years in the future.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Birmingham Midshires | 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. |
| Lloyds TSB Scotland | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| 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. |
Engaging our service will provide you enhanced control over the value of your Wembley leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and saleable in relation to the lease length should you decide to sell. The conveyancers that we work with have a in-depth market knowledge handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
Jack owned a studio flat in Wembley on the market with a lease of a little over 59 years unexpired. Jack informally contacted his freeholder being a well known London-based freehold company and enquired on a premium to extend the lease. The freeholder was keen to agree an extension on non-statutory terms taking the lease to 125 years subject to a rise in the rent to £200 annually. No ground rent would be payable on a lease extension were Jack to invoke his statutory right. Jack obtained expert advice and secured satisfactory deal informally and ending up with a market value flat.
In 2012 we were called by Mr and Mrs. F Mason who, having owned a ground floor apartment in Wembley in June 2000. We are asked if we could estimate the premium could be for a ninety year lease extension. Identical homes in Wembley with 100 year plus lease were worth £285,000. The average amount of ground rent was £45 billed every twelve months. The lease ended on 14 June 2098. Given that there were 72 years as a residual term we calculated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be between £12,400 and £14,200 not including legals.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Wembley residence is Ground Floor Flat 79 London Road in September 2012. the Tribunal held that the premium payable for the lease extension should be £7,636 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 74 years.