With a long leasehold premises in Catford, you are actually buying a right to live in a property for a prescribed time frame. In recent years flat leases typically tend to be for 99 years or 125. Many leasehold owners are unconcerned as this seems like a lengthy period of time, you may consider extending the lease sooner as opposed to later. Accepted thinking is that the shorter the number of years is the cost of extending the lease becomes disproportionately greater particularly when there are fewer than eighty years left. Leasehold owners in Catford with a lease approaching 81 years unexpired should seriously think of extending it sooner as opposed to later. Once the lease term has less than 80 years left, under the relevant Act the freeholder can calculate and levy a larger premium, assessed on a technical computation, strangely termed as “marriage value” which is payable.
It is conventional wisdom that a residential leasehold with in excess of 100 years remaining is worth approximately the equivalent as a freehold. Where an further 90 years added to any lease with more than 45 years unexpired, the residence will be equivalent in value to a freehold for decades to come.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Bank of Scotland | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| Birmingham Midshires | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| Leeds Building Society | 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage. |
| Lloyds TSB Scotland | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| 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 Catford 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.
Kian owned a 2 bedroom apartment in Catford on the market with a lease of a little over 59 years unexpired. Kian informally contacted his landlord a well known Manchester-based freehold company and enquired on a premium to extend the lease. The landlord indicated a willingness to extend the lease to 125 years on the basis of a new rent at the outset set at £200 per annum and doubled every 25 years thereafter. No ground rent would be due on a lease extension were Kian to invoke his statutory right. Kian procured expert advice and secured satisfactory resolution without going to tribunal and sell the flat.
Mr and Mrs. D González completed a one bedroom apartment in Catford in June 2000. The question was if we could estimate the premium would be for a ninety year extension to my lease. Identical residencies in Catford with a long lease were worth £242,600. The average amount of ground rent was £45 invoiced per annum. The lease elapsed in 2093. Given that there were 67 years as a residual term we estimated the premium to the landlord for the lease extension to be between £11,400 and £13,200 plus costs.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Catford residence is 44 Elmer Road in January 2013. The Tribunal dacied that amount to be paid by the Leaseholders for the Landlords freehold reversion was £12,951 as at the valuation date (20" September 2012).This matter was referred back to the Bromley County Court to deal with costs, fees and any other outstanding matters. This case related to 2 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 74.25 years.