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Main reasons to start your Abbey Wood lease extension


Main reasons to commence your Abbey Wood lease extension today:

A Abbey Wood leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

Abbey Wood leases on residential properties are gradually losing value. if your lease has in the region of 90 years left, you should start thinking about a lease extension. If lease term is less than 80 years, you will then have to pay half of the property's 'marriage value' on top of the usual 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 Abbey Wood will mostly qualify for a lease extension; however it’s a good idea to check with a lawyer to confirm if you qualify. In certain cases you may not be entitled. There are prescribed timetables and steps to comply with once the process has commenced so it’s sensible to be guided by a conveyancer during the process.

Abbey Wood property with a lease extension has roughly the same value as a freehold

Leasehold properties in Abbey Wood with in excess of 100 years unexpired on the lease are sometimes referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your premises. In such circumstances there is often little to be gained by buying the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and estate charges warrant it.

Lending institutions will not finance a property with a short lease

Whether or not the lease is be regarded as a short lease varies by mortgage company, yet mortgage lenders start to become nervous at around 75 years. This will cause difficulties as and when you come to sell or refinance your property as it will be effectively unmortgageable. You might have no imminent desire to sell but when you do your buyer will need to wait two years before being able to exercise the right to a a lease extension.

Lender Requirement
Bank of Scotland Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
Leeds Building Society 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage.
Lloyds TSB Scotland Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
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.

Get in touch with one of our Abbey Wood lease extension solicitors or enfranchisement solicitors

The conveyancers 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 conveyancer we work with provide it.

Abbey Wood Lease Extension Example Cases:

Kirsty, Abbey Wood, South East London,

After protracted discussions with the freeholder of her garden flat in Abbey Wood, Kirsty started the lease extension process as the eighty year threshold was swiftly approaching. The transaction was concluded in June 2014. The freeholder’s charges were negotiated to below 550 GBP.

Abbey Wood case:

Mr B Miller completed a first floor flat in Abbey Wood in February 2008. The question was if we could approximate the price could be for a 90 year lease extension. Comparative flats in Abbey Wood with an extended lease were worth £250,400. The average ground rent payable was £65 billed monthly. The lease finished on 11 June 2089. Taking into account 64 years as a residual term we calculated the premium to the landlord to extend the lease to be within £19,000 and £22,000 exclusive of costs.

Decision in Bexley

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Abbey Wood premises 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.