Owning a flat usually means owning a lease of the property, this is a ‘time-limited’ interest becoming shorter every day. This lease will normally be granted for a set period of time , usually 99 or 125 years, although we have seen longer and shorter terms in Hexham. Inevitably, the length of lease remaining reduces as time goes by. This may pass by relatively unnoticed when the residence needs to be disposed of or refinanced. The fewer the years remaining the lower the value of the property and the more it will cost to extend the lease. Qualifying leaseholders in Hexham have the legal entitlement to extend the lease for an additional ninety years under the 1993 Leasehold Reform Act. Please give careful deliberation before putting off your Hexham lease extension. Putting off the cost now simply increases the price you will ultimately have to pay to extend your lease
Leasehold properties in Hexham with over one hundred years left on the lease are sometimes referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your home. In such situations there is often little to be gained by buying the freehold unless savings on ground rent and estate 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. |
| Godiva Mortgages | 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. |
| Virgin | 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion. |
| Yorkshire 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. |
The conveyancing solicitors that we work with handle Hexham 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 conveyancing solicitor we work with provide it.
After unsuccessful negotiations with the landlord of her first floor flat in Hexham, Kate commenced the lease extension process as the 80 year deadline was fast nearing. The lease extension was concluded in June 2015. The landlord’s charges were negotiated to below 450 GBP.
Mrs Rachel González owned a purpose-built flat in Hexham in January 1998. The dilemma was if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) compensation to the landlord could be for a ninety year extension to my lease. Identical properties in Hexham with an extended lease were in the region of £198,800. The mid-range ground rent payable was £55 invoiced yearly. The lease terminated in 2080. Having 55 years as a residual term we calculated the premium to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £33,300 and £38,400 not including expenses.
Last Christmas we were e-mailed by Mr and Mrs. F André , who owned a ground floor apartment in Hexham in July 2000. We are asked if we could approximate the compensation to the landlord would be for a ninety year lease extension. Comparative properties in Hexham with an extended lease were worth £300,000. The average amount of ground rent was £50 invoiced yearly. The lease terminated in 2100. Given that there were 75 years outstanding we approximated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £8,600 and £9,800 not including legals.