Owning a flat usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a set term of years. The lease will ordinarily be granted for a fixed period of time , ordinarily 99 or 125 years, although we have seen longer and shorter terms in Harlesden. Clearly, the term of lease remaining reduces over time. This is often overlooked and only becomes a problem when the property has to be disposed of or refinanced. The fewer the years remaining the less it is worth and the more it will cost to extend the lease. Qualifying long lease owners in Harlesden have the legal entitlement to extend the lease for an additional 90 years in accordance with legislation. Do give careful attention before delaying your Harlesden lease extension. Putting off the cost now likely increases the price you will ultimately have to pay for a lease extension
It is conventional wisdom that a residential leasehold with more than 100 years unexpired lease term is worth roughly the same as a freehold. Where an further ninety years added to all but the shortest lease, the premises will be worth the same as a freehold for decades to come.
| 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. |
| 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:
|
| 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. |
Retaining our service gives you increased control over the value of your Harlesden leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and marketable in relation to the lease length should you want to sell. The conveyancers that we work with are well versed in the legislation handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
Ibrahim owned a studio flat in Harlesden on the market with a lease of a little over fifty eight years unexpired. Ibrahim informally spoke with his landlord being a well known Bristol-based freehold company for a lease extension. The landlord was keen to give an extension on non-statutory terms taking the lease to 125 years subject to an increased rent to £50 per annum. Ordinarily, ground rent would not be due on a lease extension were Ibrahim to invoke his statutory right. Ibrahim procured expert advice and secured satisfactory deal informally and readily saleable.
Last Christmas we were called by Dr M Rodríguez , who took over the lease of a garden apartment in Harlesden in January 2001. The question was if we could approximate the premium could be to prolong the lease by a further 90 years. Identical residencies in Harlesden with a long lease were valued around £275,000. The average ground rent payable was £55 invoiced yearly. The lease elapsed in 2102. Considering the 76 years remaining we calculated the premium to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £9,500 and £11,000 plus legals.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Harlesden flat is First Floor Flat 2B Fortune Gate Road in May 2013. the tribunal decided that the price payable for the lease extension was £9,331, together with £900 in respect of outstanding ground rent. This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 74.31 years.