Owning a flat usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a set term of years. This lease will normally be granted for a prescribed period of time , ordinarily 99 or 125 years, although we have witnessed longer and shorter terms in Maidstone. Inevitably, the length of lease remaining reduces as time goes by. 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 lower the value of the property and the more it will cost to extend the lease. Eligible leaseholders in Maidstone have the right to extend the lease for a further 90 years under statute. Do give careful attention before delaying your Maidstone lease extension. Holding off that expense now simply increases the price you will ultimately have to pay for a lease extension
It is generally accepted that a property with in excess of 100 years remaining is worth roughly the equivalent as a freehold. Where an further 90 years added to all but the shortest lease, the residence will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years ahead.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| 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. |
| Halifax | 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. |
| 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 |
| 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 procure Maidstone 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.
Last year Jacob, came seriously close to the eighty-year mark with the lease on his garden apartment in Maidstone. In buying his home two decades ago, the unexpired term was of little relevance. Thankfully, he became aware that he needed to take steps soon on a lease extension. Jacob extended the lease at the eleventh hour in January. Jacob and the freeholder via the management company subsequently settled on an amount of £5,500 . If he not met the deadline, the premium would have escalated by at least £1,150.
In 2011 we were called by Dr V Davies who, having moved into a studio flat in Maidstone in July 2012. The dilemma was if we could approximate the premium would be for a ninety year extension to my lease. Similar residencies in Maidstone with a long lease were in the region of £280,000. The average ground rent payable was £55 billed yearly. The lease terminated in 2104. Considering the 78 years as a residual term we estimated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £13,300 and £15,400 not including professional charges.
Mrs A Lambert moved into a recently refurbished apartment in Maidstone in January 2005. The question was if we could approximate the premium would likely be to extend the lease by ninety years. Comparative flats in Maidstone with an extended lease were worth £186,000. The average ground rent payable was £65 billed per annum. The lease elapsed in 2084. Having 58 years as a residual term we approximated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £24,700 and £28,600 not including professional charges.