Owning a apartment usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a set term of years. This lease will usually be granted for a set period of time , usually 99 or 125 years, although we have seen longer and shorter terms in New Beckenham. Clearly, the length of lease left reduces as time goes by. This is often overlooked and only becomes a problem when the flat or house needs to be sold or re-mortgaged. The shorter the lease the lower the value of the property and the more expensive it will be to obtain a lease extension. Qualifying leaseholders in New Beckenham have the right to extend the lease for a further 90 years in accordance with legislation. Please give careful attention before putting off your New Beckenham lease extension. Holding off the cost now only increases the price you will eventually incur for a lease extension
Leasehold residencies in New Beckenham with over one hundred years left on the lease are often referred to as ‘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 to be gained by purchasing the freehold unless savings on ground rent and estate charges warrant it.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Bank of Scotland | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| Birmingham Midshires | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| Coventry Building Society | 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. |
| 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. |
| Royal Bank of Scotland | Mortgage term plus 30 years. |
The conveyancers that we work with handle New Beckenham 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.
During the course of the last few months Archie, started to get close to the 80-year threshold with the lease on his first floor flat in New Beckenham. Having purchased his flat 19 years ago, the length of the lease was of little importance. Fortunately, he recognised he needed to take steps soon on Extending the lease. Archie arranged for a lease extension just in the nick of time in January. Archie and the freeholder subsequently settled on a premium of £5,500 . If the lease had descended lower than 80 years, the amount would have increased by at least £1,150.
Last Winter we were e-mailed by Mr and Mrs. W Davis , who took over the lease of a one bedroom apartment in New Beckenham in October 1999. We are asked if we could estimate the compensation to the landlord would be to extend the lease by ninety years. Comparable properties in New Beckenham with a long lease were in the region of £252,800. The average ground rent payable was £65 collected monthly. The lease terminated in 2091. Given that there were 65 years as a residual term we estimated the premium to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £17,100 and £19,800 plus costs.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a New Beckenham flat is 26 Manor Road in July 2010. the Tribunal decided that price to be paid for the freehold was £12,420 This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 76.75 and 88.83.