Stop! Your Lease Extension in Kirkwhelpington Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Kirkwhelpington 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 Kirkwhelpington 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.

Why you should commence your Kirkwhelpington lease extension


Top reasons for lease extension now:

A Kirkwhelpington lease depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

As the the remaining lease term of a Kirkwhelpington domestic lease lessens so does its value and therefore the value of your property. If the residual term has, in excess of one hundred years to run then this decrease may be fractional that being said there will become a stage when a lease has under than eighty years remaining as part of the premium you will incur is what is termed as a marriage value. This could increase markedly the cost. It is the main rational as to why you should extend the lease sooner rather than later. The majority of flat owners in Kirkwhelpington will qualify for this right; nevertheless a conveyancing solicitor can confirm if you qualify for a lease extension. In certain situations you may not qualify, the most common reason being that you have owned the property for less than two years.

An extended lease has roughly the same value as a freehold

It is conventional wisdom that a property with more than one hundred years unexpired lease term is worth roughly the equivalent as a freehold. Where an additional ninety years added to any lease with more than 45 years unexpired, the residence will be equivalent in value to a freehold for decades to come.

Lenders may not lend with a short lease

The definition of a short lease depends on the specific mortgage company, yet mortgage lenders start to become concerned at around 75 years. This will be problematic once you come to market or refinance your property as it will be practically unmortgageable. Even though you may not have an imminent intention to sell but when you do your purchaser will need to hold off for a couple of years before being able to start the legal procedures for a lease extension.

Lender Requirement
Bank of Scotland 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.
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.
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.

What makes us experts in Kirkwhelpington lease extensions?

Regardless of whether you are a tenant or a freeholder in Kirkwhelpington,the lease extension lawyers that we work with will always be willing to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their in-depth market knowledge and the close ties they enjoy with Kirkwhelpington valuers.

Kirkwhelpington Lease Extension Example Cases:

Aaron, Kirkwhelpington, Northumberland,

Aaron owned a high value flat in Kirkwhelpington on the market with a lease of fraction over fifty eight years unexpired. Aaron on an informal basis contacted 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 £50 yearly. Ordinarily, ground rent would not be payable on a lease extension were Aaron to exercise his statutory right. Aaron obtained expert advice and secured satisfactory deal informally and readily saleable.

Kirkwhelpington case:

Mr and Mrs. I Michel took over the lease of a recently refurbished flat in Kirkwhelpington in August 1998. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (approximately) compensation to the landlord would be to extend the lease by 90 years. Similar homes in Kirkwhelpington with a long lease were valued around £200,800. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £65 invoiced monthly. The lease terminated on 27 April 2086. Given that there were 60 years remaining we estimated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £20,900 and £24,200 exclusive of expenses.

Kirkwhelpington case:

Last year we were e-mailed by Mr and Mrs. W Fournier , who owned a first floor apartment in Kirkwhelpington in January 2012. The question was if we could estimate the premium would be to prolong the lease by a further 90 years. Similar properties in Kirkwhelpington with a long lease were valued about £255,000. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £50 billed every twelve months. The lease expired in 2097. Considering the 71 years as a residual term we calculated the premium to the landlord to extend the lease to be within £9,500 and £11,000 exclusive of fees.