Owning a apartment usually means owning a lease of the property, this is a ‘time-limited’ interest becoming shorter every day. your lease will usually be granted for a set period of time , ordinarily 99 or 125 years, although we have come across longer and shorter terms in King's Cross. Clearly, the length of lease left reduces as time goes by. This is often overlooked and only raises itself as an issue when the property needs to be disposed of or re-mortgaged. The fewer the years remaining the less it is worth and the more it will cost to extend the lease. Eligible long lease owners in King's Cross have the legal entitlement to extend the lease for a further 90 years in accordance with the 1993 Leasehold Reform Act. Please give careful consideration before putting off your King's Cross lease extension. Holding off the cost now only increases the price you will eventually incur to extend your lease
Leasehold premises in King's Cross with more than one hundred years left on the lease are often 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 buying the freehold unless savings on ground rent and estate 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. |
| National Westminster Bank | Mortgage term plus 30 years. For Shared Ownership, the remaining term of the lease must be at least 30 years plus the term of the mortgage at the outset of the mortgage. |
| Skipton Building Society | 85 years from the date of completion of the mortgage For Buy to Let cases: - lettings must not breach any of the lessee’s covenants; and - consent of the lessor to lettings must be obtained if necessary |
| Royal Bank of Scotland | Mortgage term plus 30 years. |
| 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 undertake King's Cross 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.
Following protracted discussions with the freeholder of her one bedroom flat in King's Cross, Kayleigh commenced the lease extension process just as her lease was approaching the critical 80-year threshold. The lease extension was finalised in February 2012. The landlord’s charges were kept to an absolute minimum.
Dr Michael Bertrand bought a garden apartment in King's Cross in November 2012. The dilemma was if we could shed any light on how much (approximately) premium would likely be for a ninety year extension to my lease. Similar properties in King's Cross with 100 year plus lease were worth £255,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £50 invoiced quarterly. The lease elapsed in 2096. Considering the 70 years left we calculated the premium to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £9,500 and £11,000 not including costs.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a King's Cross property is Flat 89 Trinity Court Grays Inn Road in February 2013. the Tribunal found that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 to the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 should be £36,229. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 66.8 years.