Stop! Your Lease Extension in Bedmond Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Bedmond are unaware that their original lawyer had a duty to warn them about future mortgageability and saleability issues. Before you pay thousands to your freeholder, let us audit your purchase history. You might have a claim that pays for your lease extension in full

If you are facing a significant premium because your lease in Bedmond 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.

Why you should commence your Bedmond lease extension


Top reasons for lease extension now:

A Bedmond leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

As the length of the unexpired term of a Bedmond residential lease lessens so does its value and therefore the value of your property. Where the residual term has, over 100 years remaining then this decrease may be of little impact however there will become a stage when a lease has fewer than eighty years left as part of the premium you will incur is what is known as a marriage value. This could be significant. It is the main logic behind why you should extend the lease sooner rather than later. Many flat owners in Bedmond will meet the qualifying criteria; that being said a lawyer can advise whether you are eligible to extend your lease. In limited situations you may not qualify, the most common reason being that you have owned the property for less than two years.

An extended lease has roughly the same value as a freehold

It is generally considered that a residential leasehold with over 100 years remaining is worth approximately the equivalent as a freehold. Where an further ninety years added to all but the shortest lease, the property will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years in the future.

Banks and Building Societies may not grant a mortgage on a short lease

Almost all mortgage companies require a lengthy amount of time left on a leasehold property before they will consider it as adequate security. Regardless of whether you need a mortgage, you should be mindful that it is likely that someone intending to acquire your property in the future might well do, so where they can't secure a mortgage, then the value of the property will likely suffer. Since 2008 most mortgage lenders have increased the required minimum lease length that they are willing to accept

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.
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

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.
Virgin 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion.

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

The conveyancers that we work with handle Bedmond 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.

Bedmond Lease Extension Case Studies:

Imogen, Bedmond, Hertfordshire,

Off the back of lengthy correspondence with the landlord of her one bedroom apartment in Bedmond, Imogen initiated the lease extension process just as the lease was nearing the crucial eighty-year threshold. The lease extension completed in February 2015. The freeholder’s costs were negotiated to approximately 700 GBP.

Bedmond case:

Mr and Mrs. T Peterson owned a first floor apartment in Bedmond in November 2007. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (approximately) premium would likely be to extend the lease by an additional years. Identical properties in Bedmond with an extended lease were in the region of £257,800. The average amount of ground rent was £65 invoiced per annum. The lease expired on 7 August 2091. Having 65 years unexpired we calculated the compensation to the landlord to extend the lease to be between £18,100 and £20,800 not including legals.

Bedmond case:

Mr and Mrs. G Rogers bought a studio flat in Bedmond in August 2009. The question was if we could approximate the premium could be to prolong the lease by 90 years. Comparable residencies in Bedmond with an extended lease were in the region of £191,400. The average ground rent payable was £55 invoiced per annum. The lease lapsed in 2080. Given that there were 54 years remaining we calculated the compensation to the landlord to extend the lease to be within £34,200 and £39,600 exclusive of expenses.