West Wickham leases on residential properties are gradually losing value. The shorter the remaining lease term becomes, the less it is worth – and as a result any extension of your lease gets more expensive. The majority of owners of residential leasehold property in West Wickham enjoy rights under legislation to extend the terms of their leases. Where you are a leasehold owner in West Wickham you really ought to see if your lease has between seventy and ninety years left. There are compelling reasons why a West Wickham flat owner with a lease having around eighty years unexpired should take steps to make sure that a lease extension is actioned without delay
It is conventional wisdom that a residential leasehold with in excess of 100 years remaining is worth approximately the equivalent as a freehold. Where an additional 90 years added to any lease with more than 35 years left, the premises will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years in the future.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Barclays plc | Leases with less than 70 years at the commencement of the mortgage should be declined (see exception below). Leases with greater than 70 years but fewer than 85 years remaining must be referred to issuing office. Leases with fewer than 70 years should only be referred to the issuing office where the following scenario applies, as discretion may be applied subject to bank approval: • Property is located in any of the following prestigious developments: Cadogan, Crown, Grosvenor, Howard de Walden, Portman or Wellcome Trust Estates in Central London AND • The value of the property subject to the short remaining term is £500,000 or more AND • The loan to value does not exceed 90% for purchases, 90% like for like re-mortgages, 80% for re-mortgages with any element of capital raising and 80% for existing Barclays mortgage borrowers applying for additional borrowing; |
| 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. |
| National Westminster Bank | Mortgage term plus 30 years. |
| Santander | You must report the unexpired lease term to us and await our instructions if: 1. the unexpired term assumed by our valuer is between 55 and 82 years, but the actual unexpired term differs by more than one year (whether longer or shorter); or 2. the unexpired term assumed by our valuer is more than 82 years but the actual unexpired term is less than 82 years; or 3. no valuation report is provided However, we will not accept a lease where on expiry of the mortgage: (i) less than 50 years remain and all or part of the loan is repaid on an interest-only basis: or (ii) less than 30 years remain and the loan is repaid on a capital and interest basis We will accept a lease that has been extended under the provisions of the Leasehold Reform Act 1993 provided statutory compensation would be available to the leaseholder. |
| 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 |
Engaging our service will provide you better control over the value of your West Wickham leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and saleable in terms of lease length should you want to sell. The lawyers that we work with are well versed in the legislation handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
Trailing unsuccessful negotiations with the freeholder of her first floor flat in West Wickham, Kirsty started the lease extension process as the eighty year deadline was fast coming. The transaction was concluded in January 2006. The freeholder’s charges were negotiated to less than 500 pounds.
In 2013 we were phoned by Mr and Mrs. F Petit who, having bought a newly refurbished flat in West Wickham in September 1999. The question was if we could approximate the compensation to the landlord would be for a 90 year extension to my lease. Similar properties in West Wickham with 100 year plus lease were worth £290,000. The average amount of ground rent was £45 collected yearly. The lease ended in 2097. Taking into account 72 years remaining we approximated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £11,400 and £13,200 exclusive of costs.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a West Wickham residence is 26 Manor Road in July 2010. the Tribunal decided that price to be paid for the freehold was £12,420 This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 76.75 and 88.83.