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Why you should start your Barkingside lease extension


Top reasons for lease extension now:

Increase your lease and increase your Barkingside property value

Barkingside 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 Barkingside residential leaseholders to extend the terms of long leases. If you are a leasehold owner in Barkingside you should see if your lease has between 70 and ninety years remaining. In particular once the remaining lease term slips under 80 years, the compensation to the landlord for any lease extension increases dramatically as part of the premium you pay is what is known as a marriage value

An extended lease is almost the same value as a freehold

It is generally accepted that a property with more than one hundred years remaining is worth roughly the same as a freehold. Where an additional 90 years added to any lease with more than 45 years remaining, the property will be worth the same as a freehold for many years ahead.

Lending institutions will not grant a mortgage on a short lease

Mortgage lenders have set criteria when loaning monies charged on leasehold property. Many will simply not lend at all once an unexpired lease term goes lower than a certain unexpired lease term. Many Mortgage lenders will not consider property with a remaining term of less than 75 years as acceptable security. In addition to impacting your ability to sell, it is also relevant if you are wanting to remortgage your Barkingside property.

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.
Halifax Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
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
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 you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to the Issuing Office
Yorkshire Building Society 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.

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

Irrespective of whether you are a tenant or a landlord in Barkingside,the lease extension experts that we work with will always be happy to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their experience and the close ties they enjoy with Barkingside valuers.

Barkingside Lease Extension Example Cases:

Leo, Barkingside, Essex,

Leo was the the leasehold owner of a conversion flat in Barkingside on the market with a lease of a few days over 72 years remaining. Leo on an informal basis spoke with his freeholder being a well known Manchester-based freehold company and enquired on a premium to extend the lease. The freeholder was prepared to grant an extension on non-statutory terms taking the lease to 125 years subject to a rise in the rent to £50 annually. No ground rent would be due on a lease extension were Leo to invoke his statutory right. Leo procured expert legal guidance and secured an acceptable deal without going to tribunal and readily saleable.

Barkingside case:

Last Autumn we were e-mailed by Mr S Watson , who was assigned a lease of a ground floor apartment in Barkingside in January 1998. The question was if we could approximate the compensation to the landlord would likely be for a 90 year lease extension. Comparable residencies in Barkingside with an extended lease were worth £265,000. The average ground rent payable was £50 billed monthly. The lease terminated on 27 November 2097. Taking into account 73 years unexpired we approximated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £9,500 and £11,000 not including professional charges.

Decision in Redbridge

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Barkingside premises is 104 Coventry Road in July 2014. The Tribunal determined that the lease extension permium should be £22,896.15 This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 60.29 years.