With a residential leasehold property in Brislington, you are actually buying an entitlement to reside in a property for a set period of time. In recent years flat leases are usually granted for 99 years or 125. Even though this may appear like a long period of time, you should think about extending the lease sooner rather than later. Accepted thinking is that the shorter the lease is the cost of extending the lease increases markedly especially once there are less than eighty years left. Anyone in Brislington with a lease approaching 81 years left should seriously consider extending it as soon as possible. Once a lease has below 80 years outstanding, under the relevant Act the landlord can calculate and demand a greater premium, assessed on a technical calculation, known as “marriage value” which is due.
Leasehold premises in Brislington with more than 100 years remaining on the lease are sometimes referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your property. In such situations there is often little upside in buying the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and service charges merit it.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Barclays plc | Leases with less than 70 years at the commencement of the mortgage should be declined (see exception below). Leases with greater than 70 years but fewer than 85 years remaining must be referred to issuing office. Leases with fewer than 70 years should only be referred to the issuing office where the following scenario applies, as discretion may be applied subject to bank approval: • Property is located in any of the following prestigious developments: Cadogan, Crown, Grosvenor, Howard de Walden, Portman or Wellcome Trust Estates in Central London AND • The value of the property subject to the short remaining term is £500,000 or more AND • The loan to value does not exceed 90% for purchases, 90% like for like re-mortgages, 80% for re-mortgages with any element of capital raising and 80% for existing Barclays mortgage borrowers applying for additional borrowing; |
| 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. |
| 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. |
| TSB | Minimum of 70 years at mortgage commencement, with 30 years remaining at mortgage redemption. |
| Virgin | 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion. |
The conveyancers that we work with undertake Brislington 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.
After lengthy discussions with the freeholder of her garden apartment in Brislington, Jennifer started the lease extension process just as the lease was coming close to the all-important eighty-year deadline. The transaction completed in February 2014. The landlord’s fees were kept to an absolute minimum.
In 2011 we were e-mailed by Mrs D Lee who, having bought a newly refurbished apartment in Brislington in January 2010. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (approximately) price would likely be to prolong the lease by 90 years. Comparative premises in Brislington with a long lease were worth £250,400. The average ground rent payable was £65 collected annually. The lease ended in 2089. Having 64 years as a residual term we estimated the compensation to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £19,000 and £22,000 exclusive of costs.
In 2011 we were called by Mr and Mrs. N Lefebvre who, having owned a one bedroom flat in Brislington in July 2005. The question was if we could approximate the premium would likely be to prolong the lease by ninety years. Comparable properties in Brislington with an extended lease were in the region of £184,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £55 billed quarterly. The lease lapsed in 2078. Given that there were 53 years unexpired we calculated the compensation to the landlord to extend the lease to be between £28,500 and £33,000 exclusive of legals.