Stop! Your Lease Extension in Highbury Could Be FREE

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Many leaseholders in Highbury 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 Highbury 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.

Main reasons to start your Highbury lease extension

Main reasons to commence your Highbury lease extension today:

A Highbury leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

The value of Highbury leasehold residential property falls as the lease term becomes shorter and this will have an impact on its saleability. The cost of a lease extension can escalate significantly once the remaining term is less than eighty years

An extended lease is almost the same value as a freehold

Leasehold properties in Highbury with in excess of one hundred years outstanding on the lease are often referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your premises. In such circumstances there is often little to be gained by purchasing the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and estate charges merit it.

Mortgage lenders may decide not to loan monies on a short lease

Banks and building societies are making their criteria more stringent and many now expect flats to have a minimum of 60 if not 70 years remaining at the expiry of the mortgage. Given that a number of flats in Highbury were built in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s this means many now need to be extended if they if they are to be mortgageable.

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;
Barnsley Building Society 60 years from the date of the mortgage application subject to 35 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term.
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.
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

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: 
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.
 


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.

What makes us experts in Highbury lease extensions?

Regardless of whether you are a tenant or a landlord in Highbury,the lease extension experts that we work with will always be happy to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their experience and the close ties they enjoy with Highbury valuers.

Highbury Lease Extension Case Studies:

Ethan, Highbury, North London,

Ethan owned a high value flat in Highbury being marketed with a lease of a few days over 72 years unexpired. Ethan on an informal basis approached his landlord being a well known Bristol-based freehold company for a lease extension. The freeholder was prepared to grant an extension on non-statutory terms taking the lease to 125 years on the basis of a new rent at the outset set at £100 per annum and increase every 25 years thereafter. No ground rent would be payable on a lease extension were Ethan to invoke his statutory right. Ethan obtained expert legal guidance and secured an acceptable resolution without resorting to tribunal and readily saleable.

Highbury case:

Last month we were called by Ms G Bernard , who purchased a garden apartment in Highbury in September 2001. We are asked if we could estimate the compensation to the landlord would be to prolong the lease by a further 90 years. Identical flats in Highbury with a long lease were worth £255,000. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £50 collected per annum. The lease finished on 19 July 2097. Considering the 71 years outstanding we estimated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 exclusive of expenses.

Decision in Hackney

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Highbury flat is Lower Flat 16A Beatty Road in September 2012. The premium payable was £13,577. The terms of the lease has been agreed between the Applicants and the First Respondent and the Tribunal did not seek to disturb that agreement. This case related to 1 flat.