Stop! Your Lease Extension in Bradley Stoke Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Bradley Stoke 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 Bradley Stoke 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 commence your Bradley Stoke lease extension


Top reasons for lease extension now:

A Bradley Stoke leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

Owning a apartment usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a set term of years. This lease will ordinarily be granted for a prescribed period of time , usually 99 or 125 years, although we have seen longer and shorter terms in Bradley Stoke. Clearly, the period of lease remaining shortens as time goes by. This is often ignored and only raises itself as an issue when the flat or house has to be disposed of or re-mortgaged. The shorter the lease the less it is worth and the more expensive it will be to extend the lease. Eligible long lease owners in Bradley Stoke have the legal entitlement to extend the lease for a further ninety years in accordance with the 1993 Leasehold Reform Act. Do give due attention before delaying your Bradley Stoke lease extension. Putting off that expense now likely increases the price you will ultimately have to pay for a lease extension

Bradley Stoke property with a lease extension is almost the same value as a freehold

It is generally accepted that a residential leasehold with over one hundred years unexpired lease term is worth roughly the same as a freehold. Where an additional ninety years added to any lease with more than 45 years left, the residence will be equivalent in value to a freehold for decades to come.

Banks and Building Societies may decide not to grant a mortgage with a short lease

Banks and Building Societies have set criteria when lending funds charged on leasehold property. Many will simply refrain from lending at all once the residual lease term falls beneath a specified unexpired lease term. Many Mortgage lenders will not consider property with an unexpired below seventy years as adequate security. In addition to impacting your ability to sell, it is also relevant where you are seeking to refinance your Bradley Stoke property.

Lender Requirement
National Westminster Bank Mortgage term plus 30 years.

For Shared Ownership, the remaining term of the lease must be at least 30 years plus the term of the mortgage at the outset of the mortgage.
Nationwide Building Society - Our minimum unexpired lease term is 55 years, except where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat, in which case our minimum unexpired term is 90 years.
- There must be at least 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term (regardless of the length of lease at the start).

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
- Where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat and the unexpired lease term on the offer is 90 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 90 years.

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 55 years
- Unexpired lease term less than 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat
- 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 is 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 55 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% 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 (Minimum 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat)
- 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 (does not apply to Shared Ownership)
- 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 charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis

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% 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 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.
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.
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
Royal Bank of Scotland Mortgage term plus 30 years.

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

Irrespective of whether you are a tenant or a freeholder in Bradley Stoke,the lease extension solicitors that we work with will always be prepared to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their in-depth market knowledge and the close ties they enjoy with Bradley Stoke valuers.

Bradley Stoke Lease Extension Example Cases:

Nathaniel, Bradley Stoke, Bristol,

Nathaniel owned a high value flat in Bradley Stoke on the market with a lease of a few days over 72 years left. Nathaniel informally approached his freeholder a well known Manchester-based freehold company for a lease extension. The landlord indicated a willingness to grant an extension taking the lease to 125 years on the basis of a rise in the rent to £125 annually. Ordinarily, ground rent would not be due on a lease extension were Nathaniel to exercise his statutory right. Nathaniel procured expert advice and secured an acceptable resolution informally and sell the property.

Bradley Stoke case:

Mr E Ali took over the lease of a studio apartment in Bradley Stoke in March 2002. The question was if we could approximate the premium could be to prolong the lease by an additional years. Identical residencies in Bradley Stoke with an extended lease were in the region of £200,000. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £50 invoiced every twelve months. The lease finished in 2104. Taking into account 78 years remaining we calculated the premium to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £8,600 and £9,800 not including expenses.

Bradley Stoke case:

In 2010 we were called by Mr and Mrs. D Hill who, having completed a first floor flat in Bradley Stoke in March 2012. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) compensation to the landlord would be to extend the lease by a further 90 years. Comparable residencies in Bradley Stoke with an extended lease were worth £267,600. The average ground rent payable was £65 invoiced per annum. The lease expired on 28 January 2093. Given that there were 67 years outstanding we approximated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £14,300 and £16,400 exclusive of legals.