With a long leasehold property in Beckenham, you are actually buying an entitlement to live in a property for a prescribed time frame. In recent years flat leases typically tend to be for 99 years or 125. Many leasehold owners are unconcerned as this seems like a long period of time, you may consider a lease extension sooner as opposed to later. Accepted thinking is that the shorter the lease is the cost of extending the lease increases markedly notably once there are fewer than eighty years left. Leasehold owners in Beckenham with a lease drawing near to 81 years unexpired should seriously consider extending it without delay. When a lease has fewer than 80 years outstanding, under the relevant Act the freeholder can calculate and levy a greater premium, based on a technical calculation, strangely termed as “marriage value” which is due.
It is generally considered that a residential leasehold with over 100 years unexpired lease term is worth roughly the same as a freehold. Where an further ninety years added to all but the shortest lease, the property will be worth the same as a freehold for many years in the future.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Chelsea 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. |
| 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. |
| Lloyds TSB Scotland | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| 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. |
| TSB | Minimum of 70 years at mortgage commencement, with 30 years remaining at mortgage redemption. |
The conveyancing solicitors that we work with procure Beckenham 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.
Subsequent to lengthy negotiations with the freeholder of her purpose-built apartment in Beckenham, Alisha commenced the lease extension process as the 80 year mark was swiftly coming. The lease extension was finalised in March 2008. The freeholder’s fees were restricted to slightly above 450 GBP.
In 2012 we were called by Mr and Mrs. S Smith who, having purchased a ground floor apartment in Beckenham in September 1999. The dilemma was if we could estimate the compensation to the landlord would likely be to extend the lease by an additional years. Identical residencies in Beckenham with 100 year plus lease were worth £181,600. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £55 billed monthly. The lease ran out on 12 April 2077. Given that there were 52 years outstanding we approximated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £30,400 and £35,200 exclusive of legals.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Beckenham flat is 26 Manor Road in July 2010. the Tribunal decided that price to be paid for the freehold was £12,420 This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 76.75 and 88.83.