With a residential leasehold premises in Hastings, you are actually purchasing an entitlement to reside in a property for a set period of time. In recent years flat leases typically tend to be for 99 years or 125. Many leasehold owners are unconcerned as this seems like a lengthy period of time, you may think about extending the lease sooner as opposed to later. Accepted thinking is that the shorter the number of years is the cost of extending the lease becomes disproportionately more expensive particularly once there are less than eighty years left. Residents in Hastings with a lease approaching 81 years remaining should seriously consider extending it as soon as possible. Once a lease has less than 80 years outstanding, under the relevant Act the freeholder is entitled to calculate and levy a greater premium, assessed on a technical computation, known as “marriage value” which is due.
Leasehold residencies in Hastings with in excess of one hundred years left on the lease are sometimes regarded as a ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease value the same as a freehold interest in your premises. In such situations there is often little to be gained by purchasing the freehold unless savings on ground rent and service charges warrant it.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Barnsley Building Society | 60 years from the date of the mortgage application subject to 35 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term. |
| 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. |
| Leeds Building Society | 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage. |
| Lloyds TSB Scotland | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| 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. |
The conveyancers that we work with handle Hastings lease extensions and help protect your position. A lease extension can be arranged to be completed to coincide with a change of ownership so the costs of the lease extension are paid for using part of the sale proceeds. You really do need expert legal advice in this difficult and technical area of law. The conveyancer we work with provide it.
Two years ago Liam, started to get near to the 80-year threshold with the lease on his one bedroom apartment in Hastings. Having bought his property two decades ago, the length of the lease was of minimal relevance. Luckily, he realised he would soon be paying an escalated premium for a lease extension. Liam was able to extend his lease at the eleventh hour last January. Liam and the landlord in the end agreed on sum of £6,000 . If he failed to meet the deadline, the amount would have increased by a minimum £1,100.
Last April we were called by Dr Rory Martinez , who was assigned a lease of a one bedroom flat in Hastings in November 2010. The question was if we could shed any light on how much (approximately) price would be for a 90 year extension to my lease. Comparable residencies in Hastings with 100 year plus lease were worth £215,600. The average ground rent payable was £45 collected every twelve months. The lease ran out in 2088. Given that there were 62 years remaining we calculated the premium to the landlord to extend the lease to be between £18,100 and £20,800 exclusive of expenses.
Mr and Mrs. S Mason took over the lease of a purpose-built flat in Hastings in February 2010. We are asked if we could approximate the premium would likely be for a 90 year extension to my lease. Comparable residencies in Hastings with a long lease were in the region of £265,000. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £50 collected per annum. The lease ran out on 15 April 2099. Taking into account 73 years as a residual term we approximated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £9,500 and £11,000 not including costs.