Why you should commence your Christchurch lease extension

Why you should commence your Christchurch lease extension today:

A Christchurch lease depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

Christchurch leases on residential properties are gradually losing value. The shorter the remaining lease term becomes, the less it is worth – and accordingly any extension of your lease gets more expensive. Legislation has been in place for sometime now which entitles qualifying Christchurch residential leaseholders to extend the terms of long leases. If you are a leasehold owner in Christchurch you would be well advised to check if your lease has between 70 and ninety years remaining. There are good reasons why a Christchurch leaseholder with a lease having around eighty years left should take steps to ensure that a lease extension is effected without delay

An extended lease has roughly the same value as a freehold

It is conventional wisdom that a property with more than one hundred years unexpired lease term is worth roughly the equivalent as a freehold. Where an further 90 years added to all but the shortest lease, the residence will be worth the same as a freehold for many years in the future.

Mortgage lenders may decide not to grant a mortgage with a short lease

Nearly all banks and building societies require a lengthy amount of time left on any leasehold property before they will consider lending on it. Regardless of whether you require a mortgage, you should bear in mind that it is reasonable to assume that someone wishing to acquire your property in the future might well do, so if they can't get a mortgage, then the financial worth of the property could suffer. Since 2008 many mortgage lenders have increased the required minimum lease length that they are prepared to grant a mortgage on

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

Using our service will provide you better control over the value of your Christchurch leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and marketable in respect 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.

Christchurch Lease Extension Case Studies:

Oliver, Christchurch, Dorset

In recent months Oliver, started to get near to the 80-year threshold with the lease on his ground floor apartment in Christchurch. Having purchased his property twenty years previously, the lease term was of minimal bearing. by good luck, he became aware that he would soon be paying an escalated premium for a lease extension. Oliver arranged for a lease extension at the eleventh hour in May. Oliver and the freeholder via the managing agents eventually agreed on sum of £5,500 . If he failed to meet the deadline, the premium would have gone up by a minimum £1,075.

Christchurch case:

Mr and Mrs. E Green moved into a ground floor flat in Christchurch in November 2005. We are asked if we could approximate the price would be for a ninety year lease extension. Similar flats in Christchurch with 100 year plus lease were worth £270,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £55 collected every twelve months. The lease termination date was in 2101. Having 75 years unexpired we estimated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £9,500 and £11,000 not including costs.

Christchurch case:

Last Winter we were phoned by Mr Dexter Morris , who took over the lease of a studio flat in Christchurch in August 1996. We are asked if we could approximate the price would be to extend the lease by 90 years. Similar homes in Christchurch with a long lease were valued about £168,800. The average ground rent payable was £60 collected monthly. The lease expired on 8 November 2081. Taking into account 55 years outstanding we approximated the compensation to the landlord to extend the lease to be between £31,400 and £36,200 exclusive of legals.