It’s a harsh certainty that a Abbey Wood residential lease is a deteriorating asset. As the lease term reduces so does the value of the property. The extent of this is taken for granted in the early years due to the loss of value being disguised by increases in the Abbey Wood property prices.Once your lease nears 85ish years, you need to start considering a lease extension. An important point to note is that it is desirable for lease extension to take place before the term of the existing lease dips below eighty years - otherwise a higher amount will be payable. Most flat owners in Abbey Wood will be able to extend under the legislation; however a conveyancing solicitor should be able to clarify if you qualify for an extension. In some situations you may not be entitled. There are also strict deadlines and procedures to follow once the process is instigated and you will need to be guided by your conveyancer from beginning to end of the process.
It is generally accepted that a residential leasehold with more than one hundred years unexpired lease term is worth roughly the equivalent as a freehold. Where an additional 90 years added to any lease with more than 30 years left, the premises will be worth the same as a freehold for many years in the future.
| 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. |
| Halifax | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| TSB | Minimum of 70 years at mortgage commencement, with 30 years remaining at mortgage redemption. |
| Virgin | 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion. |
The lawyers that we work with undertake Abbey Wood 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.
Off the back of lengthy negotiations with the landlord of her one bedroom flat in Abbey Wood, Chantelle initiated the lease extension process as the 80 year threshold was quickly coming. The legal work was concluded in November 2013. The freeholder’s costs were kept to an absolute minimum.
Ms Abbie Girard acquired a first floor flat in Abbey Wood in June 1998. The dilemma was if we could approximate the compensation to the landlord would be for a 90 year lease extension. Comparable premises in Abbey Wood with an extended lease were worth £300,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £50 collected yearly. The lease finished in 2101. Given that there were 76 years unexpired we estimated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £8,600 and £9,800 exclusive of professional charges.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Abbey Wood property is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case was in relation to 13 flats. The unexpired term was 76 years.