Stop! Your Lease Extension in Lewisham Could Be FREE

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Many leaseholders in Lewisham 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 Lewisham 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 Lewisham lease extension

Top reasons for lease extension now:

Increase your lease and increase your Lewisham property value

Lewisham residential property held on a long lease is a depreciating asset because a leaseholder only owns the property for a set term.

An extended lease has roughly the same value as a freehold

It is generally considered that a property with in excess of 100 years unexpired lease term is worth approximately the same as a freehold. Where an additional 90 years added to all but the shortest lease, the residence will be worth the same as a freehold for many years in the future.

Lenders may not loan monies with a short lease

The propensity since 2008 has been for mortgage companies to tighten lending criteria across the board - this has extended to the property over which the home loan is to be charged. This has meant the minimum number of years remaining under the lease required by lenders has increased. Historically mortgage companies would grant a mortgage on a lease with twenty years plus the term of the loan - routinely fifty year leases but those requirements are being increasingly undermined by the requirement for longer and longer leases - many use a minimum term of 75 years as a prerequisite.

Lender Requirement
Accord Mortgages 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.
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.
Godiva Mortgages 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.
Leeds Building Society 85 years remaining from the start 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.

Get in touch with one of our Lewisham lease extension solicitors or enfranchisement solicitors

The conveyancing solicitors that we work with undertake Lewisham 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.

Lewisham Lease Extension Case Summaries:

Andrew, Lewisham, South East London

Last October Andrew, came precariously close to the eighty-year mark with the lease on his leasehold apartment in Lewisham. In buying his flat two decades ago, the unexpired term was of little importance. Thankfully, he realised he would soon be paying way over the odds for a lease extension. Andrew extended the lease just ahead of time in September. Andrew and the freeholder via the managing agents eventually settled on an amount of £6,000 . If the lease had slid below eighty years, the price would have escalated by a minimum £1,050.

Lewisham case:

Last March we were called by Mr and Mrs. D Khan , who owned a ground floor flat in Lewisham in May 2002. The question was if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) price could be for a 90 year lease extension. Comparable properties in Lewisham with an extended lease were valued around £206,200. The average amount of ground rent was £55 invoiced annually. The lease concluded on 16 October 2082. Having 56 years remaining we approximated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £31,400 and £36,200 not including professional charges.

Decision in Lewisham

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Lewisham residence is 73 Walerand Road in August 2012. the result of the findings of the Tribunal led to a premium to be paid for the extended lease in respect of Flat 73 in the sum of £10,040. The premium applicable in respect of Flat 85 was £5,710. This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 72 years.