Stop! Your Lease Extension in Cambourne Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Cambourne 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 Cambourne 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 Cambourne lease extension


Main reasons to start your Cambourne lease extension today:

Increase your lease and increase your Cambourne property value

When it comes to domestic leasehold property in Cambourne, you are actually buying an entitlement to reside in a property for a prescribed time frame. In recent years flat leases are usually granted for 99 years or 125. Many leasehold owners become complacent as this seems like a lengthy period of time, you should consider a lease extension sooner as opposed to later. Accepted thinking is that the shorter the lease is the cost of extending the lease gets disproportionately greater especially when there are less than eighty years left. Anyone in Cambourne with a lease drawing near to 81 years unexpired should seriously consider extending it without delay. When a lease has fewer than 80 years outstanding, under the current legislation the landlord is entitled to calculate and levy a larger premium, assessed on a technical multiplication, strangely termed as “marriage value” which is payable.

Cambourne property with a lease extension has roughly the same value as a freehold

Leasehold residencies in Cambourne with in excess of one hundred years left on the lease are often referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your premises. In such situations there is often little upside in purchasing the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and service charges warrant it.

Banks and Building Societies may not loan monies with a short lease

The propensity since the credit crunch has been for banks to tighten lending requirements generally - this has extended to the types of security over which the home loan is to be granted. This has meant the unexpired lease term required by banks has increased. Historically lenders would grant a mortgage on a lease with 25 years plus the term of the loan - routinely 50 year leases but those requirements have been chipped away by the requirement for lengthy leases - many use a minimum term of 75 years as a prerequisite.

Lender Requirement
Accord Mortgages 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.
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.
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.
Halifax Minimum 70 years from the date 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.

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

Engaging our service gives you better control over the value of your Cambourne leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and marketable in terms of lease length should you want to sell. The lawyers that we work with are well versed in the legislation handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.

Cambourne Lease Extension Example Cases:

Ashleigh, Cambourne, Cambridgeshire,

Off the back of protracted negotiations with the freeholder of her one bedroom flat in Cambourne, Ashleigh started the lease extension process just as her lease was approaching the all-important 80-year deadline. The legal work was finalised in February 2005. The landlord’s charges were kept to an absolute minimum.

Cambourne case:

Mr and Mrs. V Campbell purchased a one bedroom flat in Cambourne in June 2010. We are asked if we could estimate the premium would be to extend the lease by a further 90 years. Comparable premises in Cambourne with an extended lease were worth £275,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £55 billed per annum. The lease ran out in 2102. Given that there were 76 years as a residual term we calculated the premium to the landlord for the lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 not including legals.

Cambourne case:

Dr P Wilson purchased a one bedroom apartment in Cambourne in April 2008. The question was if we could approximate the price could be for a ninety year lease extension. Comparative homes in Cambourne with a long lease were worth £176,200. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £65 collected quarterly. The lease elapsed on 10 September 2082. Having 56 years outstanding we estimated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £29,500 and £34,000 exclusive of professional charges.