Owning a flat usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a finite term of years. your lease will ordinarily be granted for a fixed period of time , usually 99 or 125 years, although we have come across longer and shorter terms in Hornsey. Clearly, the period of lease left reduces over time. This is often ignored and only raises itself as an issue when the property needs to be sold or re-mortgaged. The shorter the lease the less it is worth and the more expensive it will be to procure a lease extension. Eligible leaseholders in Hornsey have the right to extend the lease for an additional 90 years in accordance with the 1993 Leasehold Reform Act. You should give careful deliberation before delaying your Hornsey lease extension. Putting off that expense now simply increases the price you will ultimately have to pay to extend your lease
Leasehold properties in Hornsey with in excess of one hundred years remaining on the lease are sometimes referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease value the same as a freehold interest in your premises. In such circumstances there is often little upside in buying the freehold unless savings on ground rent and estate charges warrant it.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Bank of Scotland | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| Birmingham Midshires | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| 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. |
| Lloyds TSB Scotland | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| Virgin | 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion. |
The conveyancers that we work with handle Hornsey 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 lawyer we work with provide it.
In 2014 Sebastian, came seriously close to the 80-year mark with the lease on his one bedroom apartment in Hornsey. Having bought his home twenty years previously, the unexpired term was of minimal relevance. As luck would have it, he recognised he would soon be paying way over the odds for Extending the lease. Sebastian extended the lease just under the wire in March. Sebastian and the landlord who owned the flat above subsequently agreed on a premium of £6,000 . If he had missed the deadline, the sum would have increased by a minimum £900.
Last Winter we were phoned by Mr Harry Baker , who was assigned a lease of a basement flat in Hornsey in February 2002. The dilemma was if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) compensation to the landlord could be to extend the lease by an additional years. Similar homes in Hornsey with an extended lease were valued around £255,000. The average amount of ground rent was £50 billed quarterly. The lease end date was on 27 April 2096. Considering the 70 years outstanding we calculated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 plus costs.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Hornsey premises is 7 Aubrey Road in December 2010. By an order of the county court on 15/12/2009 the freehold interest inthe Property known as 7 Aubrey Road London N8 9HH (the Property) and registered at HM Land Registry under title number MX439124 was vested in the applicants. The Tribunal calculated that the total enfranchisement premium, assessed in accordance with Schedule 6 to the Act, was £54,633. This case related to 3 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 73.27 years.