Stop! Your Lease Extension in Kirkby Stephen Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Kirkby Stephen 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 Kirkby Stephen 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.

Top reasons for Kirkby Stephen lease extension


Top reasons for lease extension now:

Increase your lease and increase your Kirkby Stephen property value

Chances are that where you own a flat in Kirkby Stephen you actually own a long leasehold interest over your property

An extended lease has roughly the same value as a freehold

Leasehold properties in Kirkby Stephen with in excess of 100 years unexpired on the lease are sometimes regarded as a ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your property. In such situations there is often little upside in buying the freehold unless savings on ground rent and maintenance charges justify it.

Mortgage lenders will not grant a mortgage on a short lease

The definition of a short lease depends on the specific mortgage company, yet mortgage lenders start to get jittery at around 75 years. This will cause difficulties as and when you wish to dispose of or refinance your property as it will be effectively unmortgageable. Even though you may have no immediate desire to sell but when you do your buyer must wait a couple of years before being able to start the legal procedures for an extension to the lease.

Lender Requirement
Bank of Scotland Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
National Westminster Bank Mortgage term plus 30 years.

For Shared Ownership, the remaining term of the lease must be at least 75 years plus the term of the mortgage at the outset of the mortgage.
Nationwide Building Society - Our minimum unexpired lease term is 55 years, except where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat, in which case our minimum unexpired term is 90 years.
- There must be at least 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term (regardless of the length of lease at the start).

Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:

Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
- Where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat and the unexpired lease term on the offer is 90 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 90 years.

New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer

Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.

SECOND HAND PROPERTIES

Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 55 years
- Unexpired lease term less than 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period is less than or equal to 5 years

Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 55 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial, etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary

Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years (Minimum 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat)
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI

NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)

Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined)
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house (does not apply to Shared Ownership)
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis

Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary

Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn Ground Rent (Annual Rent) charges

For the avoidance of doubt, any New Build properties completed but not sold pre-30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the Lease conforms to the above guidance.

* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years.

Lease Extensions

We require all Lease Extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to Issuing Office.

Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.
TSB Minimum of 70 years at mortgage commencement, with 30 years remaining at mortgage redemption.
Royal Bank of Scotland Mortgage term plus 30 years.

What makes us experts in Kirkby Stephen lease extensions?

The conveyancers that we work with procure Kirkby Stephen 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.

Kirkby Stephen Lease Extension Case Studies:

Arthur, Kirkby Stephen, Cumbria,

Arthur was the the leasehold proprietor of a studio apartment in Kirkby Stephen on the market with a lease of a few days over 61 years left. Arthur informally spoke with his landlord being a well known Manchester-based freehold company and enquired on a premium to extend the lease. The landlord indicated a willingness to extend the lease to 125 years subject to a rise in the rent to £125 per annum. No ground rent would be payable on a lease extension were Arthur to exercise his statutory right. Arthur obtained expert legal guidance and secured satisfactory resolution without going to tribunal and sell the flat.

Kirkby Stephen case:

Last year we were e-mailed by Dr Katherine Baker , who bought a basement apartment in Kirkby Stephen in April 2007. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (approximately) price could be for a 90 year lease extension. Identical flats in Kirkby Stephen with 100 year plus lease were in the region of £216,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £60 billed every twelve months. The lease concluded on 25 February 2084. Given that there were 58 years outstanding we calculated the compensation to the landlord to extend the lease to be within £28,500 and £33,000 plus fees.

Kirkby Stephen case:

Dr Aarav Turner took over the lease of a newly refurbished apartment in Kirkby Stephen in April 2011. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) compensation to the landlord would be to extend the lease by a further 90 years. Similar homes in Kirkby Stephen with a long lease were valued around £205,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £50 invoiced every twelve months. The lease came to a finish in 2104. Given that there were 78 years remaining we approximated the premium to the landlord to extend the lease to be between £7,600 and £8,800 not including legals.