The re-sale value of a leasehold property in Abbey Wood depends on how many years the lease has remaining. If it is near to or less than 80 years you should expect difficulties on re-sale, so it is recommended to arrange for a lease extension prior to buying. It is preferable to commence the process of extending the lease is when a lease still has 82 years to run so that a lease extension can be addressed ahead of the eighty year mark. Current legislation enables Abbey Wood qualifying lessees to a 90 year extension added to their remaining lease term (ie if your lease has 50 years left the statutory lease extension will provide a new term of 140 years). The reason of the valuation is to determine the amount payable by the lessee to the freeholder for the acquisition of the lease extension.
It is conventional wisdom that a property with in excess of 100 years unexpired lease term is worth approximately the same as a freehold. Where an further ninety years added to any lease with more than 30 years remaining, the residence will be worth the same as a freehold for many years in the future.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Accord Mortgages | 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. |
| Bank of Scotland | 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. |
| Leeds Building Society | 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage. |
| Lloyds TSB Scotland | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
Engaging our service gives you better control over the value of your Abbey Wood leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and marketable in respect of lease length should you want to sell. The conveyancing solicitors that we work with are well versed in the legislation handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
Following protracted negotiations with the freeholder of her ground floor flat in Abbey Wood, Ashleigh started the lease extension process just as her lease was coming close to the all-important 80-year threshold. The lease extension was finalised in October 2013. The landlord’s charges were kept to an absolute minimum.
In 2013 we were contacted by Dr Gemma Morris who, having acquired a one bedroom apartment in Abbey Wood in January 2003. We are asked if we could estimate the premium would likely be to extend the lease by a further 90 years. Similar properties in Abbey Wood with a long lease were valued about £280,000. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £45 collected yearly. The lease ran out on 7 November 2095. Given that there were 69 years remaining we approximated the premium to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £12,400 and £14,200 not including legals.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal 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 affected 13 flats. The unexpired lease term was 76 years.