Stop! Your Lease Extension in Bickley Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Bickley 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 Bickley 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 Bickley lease extension


Why you should start your Bickley lease extension today:

A Bickley lease depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

For those whose Bickley flat is held on a long lease, the message is clear – if you do nothing, your property will eventually revert to the freeholder, leaving you empty-handed. The shorter the lease the lower the value of the property and the more it will cost to procure a lease extension.

An extended lease has roughly the same value as a freehold

It is generally accepted that a property with in excess of 100 years remaining is worth approximately 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 decades to come.

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

Most mortgage lenders have tightened lending criteria in the last ten years and borrowers are encountering difficulties in arranging funding or re-mortgage against property with shorter lease terms, particularly below 75 years as they are deemed to be deficient for lending purposes.

Lender Requirement
Birmingham Midshires Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
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.
National Westminster Bank Mortgage term plus 30 years.

For Shared Ownership, the remaining term of the lease must be at least 75 years plus the term of the mortgage at the outset 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.
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 Bickley lease extension solicitors or enfranchisement solicitors

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

Bickley Lease Extension Example Cases:

Olivia, Bickley, South East London,

Subsequent to lengthy correspondence with the landlord of her basement flat in Bickley, Olivia initiated the lease extension process just as the lease was coming close to the crucial eighty-year deadline. The legal work completed in November 2013. The freeholder’s fees were negotiated to a tad over 700 pounds.

Bickley case:

Last month we were approach by Dr Y Cox , who moved into a basement flat in Bickley in July 2012. We are asked if we could approximate the price could be for a ninety year lease extension. Similar premises in Bickley with an extended lease were in the region of £242,600. The mid-range ground rent payable was £45 billed annually. The lease finished on 28 July 2093. Considering the 67 years outstanding we approximated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £11,400 and £13,200 plus legals.

Decision in Bromley

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Bickley property is 1 Southlands Court Southlands Road in September 2013. The Leasehold Valuation Tribunal determined that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 was £30,541 This case affected 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 50.57 years.