If you are facing a significant premium because your lease in Ardleigh Green 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 Ardleigh Green lease extension today:
Increase your lease and increase your Ardleigh Green property value
Ardleigh Green 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 the lease becomes more expensive. Legislation has been in place for sometime now allowing qualifying Ardleigh Green residential leaseholders to extend the terms of long leases. If you are a leasehold owner in Ardleigh Green you must see if your lease has between seventy and 90 years remaining. There are compelling reasons why a Ardleigh Green flat owner with a lease having around eighty years remaining should take steps to make sure that a lease extension is actioned without delay
Ardleigh Green property with a lease extension is almost the same value as a freehold
It is conventional wisdom that a residential leasehold with over 100 years remaining is worth roughly the equivalent as a freehold. Where an additional ninety years added to all but the shortest lease, the property will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years ahead.
Mortgage lenders will not issue a mortgage with a short lease
The trend since 2008 has been for lenders to tighten lending criteria generally - this has extended to the types of security over which the home loan is to be charged. This has meant the minimum number of years remaining under the lease required by lenders has increased. Historically lenders would grant a mortgage on a lease with 25 years plus the term of the loan - typically 50 year leases but those requirements have been chipped away by the requirement for longer and longer leases - many now have a minimum term of 75 years as standard.
| Lender |
Requirement
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|---|
| Bank of Scotland |
Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
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| Halifax |
Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
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| Leeds Building Society |
85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage.
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| The Mortgage Works |
Minimum unexpired lease term is 70 years with 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term.
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:
Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 70 years
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period less than or equal to 5 years
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 70 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being reviewed and altered on any review basis or methodology
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn ground rent (annual rent) charges
For the avoidance of doubt, any new build properties completed but not sold pre 30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the lease conforms to the above guidance
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years
Lease Extensions We require all Lease Extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where a proposed Lease Extension does not meet these requirements, however you feel that this is in the best interest for our mutual client, please refer all details to the Issuing Office for us to consider.
Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.
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| Virgin |
85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion.
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Get in touch with one of our Ardleigh Green lease extension solicitors or enfranchisement solicitors
Engaging our service gives you better control over the value of your Ardleigh Green leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and marketable in relation to the 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.
Ardleigh Green Lease Extension Case Studies:
Tommy, Ardleigh Green, London
Two years ago Tommy, started to get close to the eighty-year mark with the lease on his leasehold apartment in Ardleigh Green. In buying his property 18 years previously, the length of the lease was of minimal interest. Fortunately, he realised he needed to take action soon on a lease extension. Tommy was able to extend his lease just under the wire in January. Tommy and the landlord who owned the flat above in the end settled on the final figure of £5,500 . If he had missed the deadline, the figure would have increased by at least £1,000.
Ardleigh Green case:
In 2014 we were approached by Mr Ryan Nelson who, having bought a studio flat in Ardleigh Green in August 1999. We are asked if we could estimate the premium would be for a 90 year extension to my lease. Identical homes in Ardleigh Green with a long lease were valued about £275,000. The average amount of ground rent was £55 invoiced per annum. The lease lapsed in 2102. Taking into account 76 years remaining we estimated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £9,500 and £11,000 plus costs.
Decision in Havering
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Ardleigh Green residence is
37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559
This case was in relation to 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 57.5 years.