For anyone whose Crystal Palace flat is held on a long lease, our message is clear – if no remedial action is taken, your property will eventually revert to your landlord, leaving you empty-handed. The fewer the years remaining the lower the value of the property and the more it will cost to extend the lease.
It is generally considered that a residential leasehold with more than one hundred years remaining is worth approximately the same as a freehold. Where an additional 90 years added to all but the shortest lease, the premises will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years in the future.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Bank of Scotland | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| 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. |
| Leeds Building Society | 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage. |
| Yorkshire 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. |
Engaging our service will provide you better control over the value of your Crystal Palace leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and saleable in respect of lease length should you want to sell. The conveyancers that we work with have a in-depth market knowledge handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
Finley owned a studio flat in Crystal Palace being marketed with a lease of just over 61 years left. Finley on an informal basis spoke with his landlord being a well known Bristol-based freehold company and enquired on a premium to extend the lease. The freeholder was keen to give an extension on non-statutory terms taking the lease to 125 years on the basis of a new rent to start with set at £200 per annum and doubled every 25 years thereafter. No ground rent would be due on a lease extension were Finley to exercise his statutory right. Finley procured expert legal guidance and was able to make a more informed judgement and handle with the matter and readily saleable.
Mr and Mrs. L Mercier acquired a garden apartment in Crystal Palace in May 1997. The dilemma was if we could estimate the compensation to the landlord could be to prolong the lease by an additional years. Comparable premises in Crystal Palace with 100 year plus lease were valued around £285,000. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £45 billed annually. The lease lapsed in 2096. Given that there were 71 years outstanding we estimated the premium to the landlord to extend the lease to be between £12,400 and £14,200 plus fees.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Crystal Palace flat is Flat 1 4 Border Crescent in March 2012. the Tribunal decided that the sum payable by the Applicants to the Respondent in respect of the new lease for the subject property should be £11,616.00 (ElevenThousand and Six Hundred and Sixteen Pounds) This case affected 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 72.04 years.