Stop! Your Lease Extension in Frant Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Frant are unaware that their original lawyer had a duty to warn them about future mortgageability and saleability issues. Before you pay thousands to your freeholder, let us audit your purchase history. You might have a claim that pays for your lease extension in full

If you are facing a significant premium because your lease in Frant has dropped toward the 80-year mark, your previous lawyer may be at fault. Our panel of experts specialise in recovering lease extension costs from negligent firms who failed to protect your investment.

Top reasons for Frant lease extension


Why you should start your Frant lease extension today:

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

The nearer a domestic lease in Frant nears to zero years unexpired, the the greater the reduction in the value of the property. Where the residual term has, beyond 125 years remaining then this decrease may be fractional however there will become a stage when a lease has under than eighty years left as part of the premium you will incur is what is termed as a marriage value. This could increase sharply the cost. It is the main logic behind why you should extend the lease without delay. Many flat owners in Frant will meet the qualifying criteria; however a lawyer should be able to confirm if you qualify to extend your lease. In limited situations you may not qualify, the most common reason being that you have owned the property for less than two years.

Frant property with a lease extension is almost the same value as a freehold

It is conventional wisdom that a residential leasehold with more than 100 years remaining is worth approximately the same as a freehold. Where an additional ninety years added to all but the shortest lease, the premises will be worth the same as a freehold for decades to come.

Mortgage lenders will not issue a mortgage on a short lease

Whether or not the lease is be regarded as a short lease varies by mortgage company, yet lending institutions start to get concerned at around 75 years. This may be problematic once you come to dispose of or refinance your flat as it will be practically unmortgageable. You might not have an imminent plan to sell but when you do your buyer must wait 2 years before they can commence the legal procedures for a lease extension.

Lender Requirement
Bank of Scotland Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
Birmingham Midshires 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.
Nationwide Building Society - Our minimum unexpired lease term is 55 years, except where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat, in which case our minimum unexpired term is 90 years.
- There must be at least 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term (regardless of the length of lease at the start).

Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:

Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
- Where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat and the unexpired lease term on the offer is 90 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 90 years.

New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer

Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.

SECOND HAND PROPERTIES

Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 55 years
- Unexpired lease term less than 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period is less than or equal to 5 years

Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 55 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial, etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary

Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years (Minimum 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat)
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI

NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)

Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined)
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house (does not apply to Shared Ownership)
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis

Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary

Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn Ground Rent (Annual Rent) charges

For the avoidance of doubt, any New Build properties completed but not sold pre-30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the Lease conforms to the above guidance.

* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years.

Lease Extensions

We require all Lease Extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to Issuing Office.

Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.
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

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

Retaining our service will provide you enhanced control over the value of your Frant leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and marketable in respect of lease length should you decide to sell. The conveyancers that we work with are well versed in the legislation handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.

Frant Lease Extension Case Summaries:

Maisie, Frant, East Sussex,

Trailing protracted correspondence with the landlord of her basement flat in Frant, Maisie initiated the lease extension process just as her lease was nearing the crucial eighty-year threshold. The lease extension completed in April 2013. The freeholder’s charges were kept to an absolute minimum.

Frant case:

Dr J Howard owned a recently refurbished apartment in Frant in January 2007. The question was if we could approximate the premium could be for a ninety year extension to my lease. Comparative properties in Frant with a long lease were worth £176,200. The mid-range ground rent payable was £65 invoiced annually. The lease came to a finish in 2082. Taking into account 56 years remaining we estimated the compensation to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £29,500 and £34,000 not including fees.

Frant case:

Mr and Mrs. N Lambert took over the lease of a first floor flat in Frant in March 2006. The dilemma was if we could estimate the compensation to the landlord would likely be to extend the lease by a further 90 years. Similar properties in Frant with 100 year plus lease were in the region of £242,600. The average amount of ground rent was £45 collected every twelve months. The lease came to a finish in 2093. Given that there were 67 years as a residual term we approximated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £11,400 and £13,200 exclusive of fees.