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.

Top reasons for Bickley lease extension


Main reasons to commence your Bickley lease extension today:

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

Bickley leases on residential deteriorating in value. if your lease has in the region of ninety years unexpired, you should start considering the need for a lease extension. If lease term dips under eighty years, you will then be required to pay half of the property's 'marriage value' in addition to the standard cost of the lease extension to the landlord. Marriage value is the amount of additional value that a lease extension will add to the property. Leasehold owners in Bickley will usually be legally entitled to a lease extension; however a solicitor will check your eligibility. In certain cases you may not be entitled. There are prescribed deadlines and procedures to follow once the process is initiated so it’s prudent to be guided by a conveyancing solicitor during the process.

An extended lease is almost the same value as a freehold

It is conventional wisdom that a residential leasehold with in excess of 100 years remaining is worth roughly the equivalent as a freehold. Where an further 90 years added to all but the shortest lease, the premises will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years in the future.

Lending institutions will not finance a property with a short lease

The trend since over the last decade has been for banks to tighten lending requirements across the board - this has extended to the property over which the home loan is to be granted. This has meant the unexpired lease term required by mortgage companies has increased. Historically banks were content with 25 years plus the term of the loan - routinely 50 year leases but those requirements are being increasingly undermined by the requirement for longer and longer leases - many use a minimum term of 75 years as a prerequisite.

Lender Requirement
Birmingham Midshires Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
Godiva Mortgages 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.
Royal Bank of Scotland Mortgage term plus 30 years.

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

The conveyancers that we work with procure Bickley 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 lawyer we work with provide it.

Bickley Lease Extension Example Cases:

Rachel, Bickley, South East London,

In the wake of 6 months of unsuccessful discussions with the freeholder of her purpose-built flat in Bickley, Rachel commenced the lease extension process just as the lease was approaching the critical 80-year deadline. The transaction was finalised in June 2008. The freeholder’s charges were kept to an absolute minimum.

Bickley case:

Mr and Mrs. W Campbell completed a garden flat in Bickley in May 2000. We are asked if we could approximate the compensation to the landlord could be to extend the lease by 90 years. Identical residencies in Bickley with 100 year plus lease were in the region of £176,200. The mid-range ground rent payable was £65 invoiced yearly. The lease came to a finish on 13 January 2082. Taking into account 56 years remaining we approximated the premium to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £29,500 and £34,000 plus professional charges.

Decision in Bromley

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Bickley flat 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 was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 50.57 years.