Stop! Your Lease Extension in Grange Park Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Grange Park 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 Grange Park 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.

Why you should start your Grange Park lease extension


Top reasons for lease extension now:

A Grange Park leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

Grange Park leases on residential deteriorating in value. if your lease has in the region of ninety years remaining, you should start considering the need for a lease extension. If lease term dips under eighty years, you will then be required to pay 50% of the property's 'marriage value' on top of the standard cost of the lease extension to the landlord. Marriage value is the amount of additional value that a lease extension will add to the property. Flat owners in Grange Park will usually be legally entitled to a lease extension; however It would be wise to check with a conveyancing solicitor to check your eligibility. In certain circumstances you may not be entitled. There are also strict deadlines and steps to follow once the process is initiated so it’s wise to be guided by a conveyancer during the process.

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

Leasehold premises in Grange Park with more than one hundred years outstanding on the lease are often regarded as a ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your premises. In such situations there is often little to be gained by buying the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and maintenance charges warrant it.

Lenders may not finance a property on a short lease

Banks and building societies are tightening their criteria and a meaningful number now require flats to have a minimum of sixty if not seventy years left at the end of the mortgage. Considering many flats in Grange Park were built in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s this means many now require lease extensions if they wish to obtain a mortgage.

Lender Requirement
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.
Santander You must report the unexpired lease term to us and await our instructions if:
1. the unexpired term assumed by our valuer is between 55 and 82 years, but the actual unexpired term differs by more than one year (whether longer or shorter); or
2. the unexpired term assumed by our valuer is more than 82 years but the actual unexpired term is less than 82 years; or
3. no valuation report is provided
However, we will not accept a lease where on expiry of the mortgage:
(i) less than 50 years remain and all or part of the loan is repaid on an interest-only basis: or
(ii) less than 30 years remain and the loan is repaid on a capital and interest basis

We will accept a lease that has been extended under the provisions of the Leasehold Reform Act 1993 provided statutory compensation would be available to the leaseholder.
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

Why use us for your lease extension in Grange Park?

Using our service will provide you increased control over the value of your Grange Park leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and saleable in terms of lease length should you wish to sell. The conveyancing solicitors that we work with are well versed in the legislation handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.

Grange Park Lease Extension Case Summaries:

Freddie, Grange Park, Northamptonshire,

Freddie was the the leasehold proprietor of a conversion flat in Grange Park being marketed with a lease of a few days over 59 years unexpired. Freddie informally approached his freeholder being a well known Manchester-based freehold company for a lease extension. The landlord indicated a willingness to grant an extension taking the lease to 125 years subject to a new rent initially set at £100 per annum and increase every 25 years thereafter. Ordinarily, ground rent would not be payable on a lease extension were Freddie to invoke his statutory right. Freddie procured expert advice and was able to make an informed judgement and deal with the matter and ending up with a market value flat.

Grange Park case:

Last April we were approach by Mr and Mrs. G Bennett , who bought a first floor apartment in Grange Park in November 2008. The question was if we could approximate the price would likely be to extend the lease by 90 years. Similar flats in Grange Park with an extended lease were worth £200,800. The average ground rent payable was £65 invoiced yearly. The lease terminated in 2086. Having 60 years as a residual term we calculated the compensation to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £20,900 and £24,200 plus fees.

Decision in Haringey

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Grange Park property is First Floor Flat 109 Lyndhurst Road in May 2010. Following a vesting order by Edmonton County Court on 29th October 2009 the Tribunal decided on a figure of £5,012 for a lease extension. This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 81.79 years.