With a long leasehold premises in Elm Park, you are actually purchasing a right to reside in a property for a set period of time. Modern flat leases typically tend to be for 99 years or 125. Many leasehold owners are unconcerned as this seems like a long period of time, you may consider extending the lease sooner rather than later. Accepted thinking is that the shorter the lease is the cost of extending the lease increases markedly especially when there are fewer than 80 years left. Leasehold owners in Elm Park with a lease drawing near to 81 years left should seriously consider extending it sooner than later. Once a lease has fewer than eighty years left, under the current statute the landlord can calculate and demand a greater premium, assessed on a technical computation, known as “marriage value” which is payable.
Leasehold premises in Elm Park with more than 100 years left on the lease are often referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your home. In such circumstances there is often little to be gained by buying the freehold unless savings on ground rent and service charges justify it.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Barclays plc | Leases with less than 70 years at the commencement of the mortgage are not acceptable. Leases with fewer than 70 years should only be referred to the issuing office where the following scenario applies, as discretion may be applied subject to bank approval: • Property is located in any of the following prestigious developments: Cadogan, Crown, Grosvenor, Howard de Walden, Portman or Wellcome Trust Estates in Central London AND • The value of the property subject to the short remaining term is £500,000 or more AND • The loan to value does not exceed 90% for purchases, 90% like for like re-mortgages, 80% for re-mortgages with any element of capital raising and 80% for existing Barclays mortgage borrowers applying for additional borrowing; |
| Birmingham Midshires | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| Leeds Building Society | 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage. |
| Santander | If the property is leasehold, the remaining unexpired lease term at the end of the new mortgage term must be at least 50 years where any part of the mortgage is on Interest Only and 30 years if all loan parts are on Capital Repayment and Interest. You must report the unexpired lease term to us and await our instructions if:
|
| TSB | Minimum of 70 years at mortgage commencement, with 30 years remaining at mortgage redemption. |
Engaging our service will provide you better control over the value of your Elm Park leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and saleable in terms of lease length should you decide to sell. The conveyancers that we work with have a wealth of experience of handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
Edward was the the leasehold proprietor of a high value apartment in Elm Park being sold with a lease of a little over 59 years outstanding. Edward informally approached his landlord being a well known London-based freehold company for a lease extension. The freeholder indicated a willingness to extend the lease to 125 years on the basis of a rise in the rent to £50 per annum. No ground rent would be payable on a lease extension were Edward to invoke his statutory right. Edward obtained expert advice and was able to make an informed decision and handle with the matter and readily saleable.
Last September we were phoned by Ms Samantha Petit , who acquired a one bedroom flat in Elm Park in April 2009. We are asked if we could estimate the premium could be for a 90 year extension to my lease. Identical properties in Elm Park with 100 year plus lease were in the region of £260,000. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £50 billed annually. The lease expired on 15 September 2099. Taking into account 73 years unexpired we estimated the compensation to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £9,500 and £11,000 not including legals.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Elm Park residence is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 57.5 years.