When it comes to long leasehold premises in Chalk Farm, you are actually buying a right to live in a property for a prescribed time frame. These days flat leases are usually granted for 99 years or 125. Many leasehold owners are unconcerned as this seems like a long period of time, you may consider a lease extension sooner as opposed to later. The general rule is that the shorter the lease is the cost of extending the lease increases markedly particularly once there are less than 80 years left. Anyone in Chalk Farm with a lease drawing near to 81 years unexpired should seriously consider extending it without delay. When the lease term has below eighty years outstanding, under the relevant statute the landlord can calculate and demand a greater amount, based on a technical computation, known 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 same as a freehold. Where an additional ninety years added to all but the shortest lease, the residence will be worth the same as a freehold for many years in the future.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Bank of Scotland | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| 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. |
| Halifax | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| 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. |
The conveyancers that we work with procure Chalk Farm 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.
Ollie was the the leasehold owner of a 2 bedroom apartment in Chalk Farm on the market with a lease of just over 61 years outstanding. Ollie on an informal basis contacted his freeholder being a well known local-based freehold company for a lease extension. The landlord was keen to agree an extension on non-statutory terms taking the lease to 125 years subject to a new rent to start with set at £100 per annum and doubled every twenty five years thereafter. No ground rent would be due on a lease extension were Ollie to exercise his statutory right. Ollie procured expert legal guidance and was able to make an informed judgement and handle with the matter and sell the flat.
Dr Amber Stewart acquired a newly refurbished apartment in Chalk Farm in April 2010. The question was if we could approximate the compensation to the landlord could be for a ninety year lease extension. Comparable homes in Chalk Farm with an extended lease were worth £166,800. The mid-range ground rent payable was £50 collected per annum. The lease expired in 2075. Taking into account 50 years outstanding we estimated the compensation to the freeholder to extend the lease to be between £32,300 and £37,400 exclusive of fees.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Chalk Farm property is Flat 2 27 Mackeson Road in December 2012. The Tribunal assessed the value of the lease extension premium at £35,435 and rounded the figure to £35,500 This case related to 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 64.77 years.