For anyone whose Copse Hill flat is held on a long lease, our message is clear – if you do nothing, your property will ultimately revert to the freeholder, leaving you empty-handed. The fewer the years remaining the lower the value of the property and the more expensive it will be to obtain a lease extension.
It is conventional wisdom that a residential leasehold with more than one hundred years unexpired lease term is worth roughly the equivalent as a freehold. Where an additional 90 years added to all but the shortest lease, the premises will be worth the same as a freehold for many years in the future.
| 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. |
| 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 |
| Virgin | 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion. |
The conveyancing solicitors that we work with handle Copse Hill 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 lawyer we work with provide it.
Subsequent to unsuccessful correspondence with the landlord of her one bedroom flat in Copse Hill, Hannah initiated the lease extension process just as the lease was coming close to the critical eighty-year threshold. The legal work was finalised in November 2005. The freeholder’s fees were kept to an absolute minimum.
Last month we were approach by Mr and Mrs. C Vincent , who acquired a ground floor flat in Copse Hill in September 2007. The dilemma was if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) premium would be for a ninety year extension to my lease. Comparative properties in Copse Hill with 100 year plus lease were valued about £265,000. The average amount of ground rent was £50 invoiced quarterly. The lease finished in 2099. Given that there were 73 years remaining we calculated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £9,500 and £11,000 plus expenses.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Copse Hill property is 83 Balvernie Grove in February 2012. The Tribunal assessed the price to be paid by the leaseholder to the freeholder for the lease extension pursuant to section 48 of the Leasehold Reform Housing & Urban Development Act 1993 should be£16,603.00 This case affected 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 69.32 years.