With a residential leasehold property in Harrow, you are actually purchasing a right to live in a property for a prescribed time frame. Modern flat leases are usually granted for 99 years or 125. Many leasehold owners become complacent as this seems like a lengthy period of time, you should consider extending the lease sooner as opposed to later. Accepted thinking is that the shorter the lease is the cost of extending the lease becomes disproportionately greater particularly once there are fewer than 80 years left. Leasehold owners in Harrow with a lease approaching 81 years left should seriously consider extending it without delay. Once a lease has under 80 years left, under the current legislation the freeholder is entitled to calculate and charge a greater premium, assessed on a technical multiplication, known as “marriage value” which is payable.
Leasehold residencies in Harrow with over one hundred years outstanding on the lease are often regarded as a ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease value the same as a freehold interest in your property. In such situations there is often little to be gained by buying the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and service charges merit it.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Accord Mortgages | 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. |
| Bank of Scotland | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| Coventry Building Society | 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. |
| 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. |
| Virgin | 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion. |
Engaging our service will provide you better control over the value of your Harrow 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 have a in-depth market knowledge handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
Lewis was the the leasehold proprietor of a conversion apartment in Harrow being sold with a lease of fraction over fifty eight years remaining. Lewis informally contacted his landlord being a well known Bristol-based freehold company and enquired on a premium to extend the lease. The landlord was keen to agree an extension on non-statutory terms taking the lease to 125 years subject to a rise in the rent to £200 annually. Ordinarily, ground rent would not be payable on a lease extension were Lewis to exercise his statutory right. Lewis procured expert advice and secured satisfactory deal informally and sell the flat.
Mr L Martínez was assigned a lease of a studio flat in Harrow in November 2006. We are asked if we could estimate the price would likely be for a ninety year lease extension. Comparative residencies in Harrow with a long lease were in the region of £200,000. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £50 invoiced quarterly. The lease expired in 2103. Taking into account 77 years remaining we estimated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £8,600 and £9,800 plus expenses.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Harrow flat is flat 93b Welldon Crescent in May 2009. The Tribunals valuation for a 90-year lease extension of this fat was £13,171 This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 75.25 years.