Stop! Your Lease Extension in West Hampstead Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in West Hampstead are unaware that their original lawyer had a duty to warn them about future mortgageability and saleability issues. Before you pay thousands to your freeholder, let us audit your purchase history. You might have a claim that pays for your lease extension in full

If you are facing a significant premium because your lease in West Hampstead has dropped toward the 80-year mark, your previous lawyer may be at fault. Our panel of experts specialise in recovering lease extension costs from negligent firms who failed to protect your investment.

Main reasons to start your West Hampstead lease extension


Why you should commence your West Hampstead lease extension today:

Increase your lease and increase your West Hampstead property value

West Hampstead leases on domestic deteriorating in value. Where your lease has in the region of 90 years unexpired, you should start considering the need for a lease extension. If lease term is under 80 years, you will then have to pay half of the property's 'marriage value' in addition to the standard cost of the lease extension to your landlord. Marriage value is the amount of additional value that a lease extension will add to the property. Leasehold owners in West Hampstead will usually qualify for a lease extension; however a solicitor will check your eligibility. In some cases you may not qualify. There are prescribed timetables and steps to comply with once the process is initiated so it’s best to be guided by a lawyer during the process.

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

It is conventional wisdom that a property 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 45 years remaining, the property will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years in the future.

Lenders will not issue a mortgage with a short lease

Most mortgage lenders have narrowed their lending criteria in the last ten years and borrowers are finding it increasingly difficult to raise funding or re-mortgage against flats with shorter lease terms, particularly under 75 years as they are considered to be unacceptable security.

Lender Requirement
Bank of Scotland 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.
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.
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.

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

Irrespective of whether you are a tenant or a landlord in West Hampstead,the lease extension experts that we work with will always be willing to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their in-depth market knowledge and the close ties they enjoy with West Hampstead valuers.

West Hampstead Lease Extension Case Studies:

Jayden, West Hampstead, North London

In 2014 Jayden, started to get close to the eighty-year threshold with the lease on his first floor flat in West Hampstead. Having bought his property two decades ago, the lease term was of little relevance. Thankfully, it dawned on him that he would imminently be paying way over the odds for Extending the lease. Jayden extended the lease just in the nick of time in January. Jayden and the freeholder subsequently agreed on sum of £6,000 . If the lease had dipped to less than eighty years, the price would have gone up by at least £1,100.

West Hampstead case:

In 2013 we were e-mailed by Mr and Mrs. H Sánchez who, having took over the lease of a recently refurbished apartment in West Hampstead in May 1995. We are asked if we could approximate the compensation to the landlord would likely be for a 90 year extension to my lease. Comparable properties in West Hampstead with a long lease were worth £245,000. The average ground rent payable was £50 billed annually. The lease termination date was on 14 March 2094. Having 68 years as a residual term we approximated the premium to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £9,500 and £11,000 plus professional charges.

Decision in Barnet

An example of a Lease Extension case for a West Hampstead premises is Flat A 372 Cricklewood Lane in January 2013. The Tribunal decided that the premium for the extended lease should be £5,750.00 and that the terms of the new lease should be those set out in annex to the decsion This case was in relation to 1 flat.