Stop! Your Lease Extension in North London Could Be FREE

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Many leaseholders in North London 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 North London 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 North London lease extension

Why you should commence your North London lease extension today:

Increase your lease and increase your North London property value

For anyone whose North London home is held on a long lease, the message is clear – if no remedial action is taken, your property will ultimately revert to the freeholder, leaving you empty-handed. The fewer the years remaining the lower the value of the property and the more it will cost to extend the lease.

An extended lease is almost the same value as a freehold

Leasehold properties in North London with over 100 years outstanding 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 home. In such situations there is often little to be gained by purchasing the freehold unless savings on ground rent and service charges warrant it.

Lenders may not issue a mortgage on a short lease

The propensity since 2008 has been for mortgage companies to tighten lending requirements across the board - this has extended to the types of security over which the mortgage is to be granted. This has meant the minimum number of years remaining under the lease required by mortgage companies has increased. Historically mortgage companies were content with 25 years plus the term of the loan - typically fifty year leases but those requirements are being increasingly undermined by the requirement for lengthy leases - many use a minimum term of 75 years as standard.

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.
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.
Halifax Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
Leeds Building Society 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage.
TSB Minimum of 70 years at mortgage commencement, with 30 years remaining at mortgage redemption.

What makes us experts in North London lease extensions?

The lawyers that we work with procure North London 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 conveyancing solicitor we work with provide it.

North London Lease Extension Example Cases:

Rachael, North London, London,

Off the back of lengthy negotiations with the freeholder of her ground floor apartment in North London, Rachael initiated the lease extension process as the eighty year deadline was fast nearing. The legal work completed in June 2009. The freeholder’s charges were kept to an absolute minimum.

North London case:

Last Autumn we were phoned by Ms Rachael Rose , who bought a basement apartment in North London in March 2004. We are asked if we could approximate the compensation to the landlord could be for a ninety year extension to my lease. Comparable flats in North London with a long lease were worth £210,000. The average ground rent payable was £50 collected quarterly. The lease finished on 15 August 2106. Considering the 80 years remaining we approximated the compensation to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £8,600 and £9,800 exclusive of fees.

Decision in Hounslow

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a North London property is 20 Avonwick Road in July 2013. The Tribunal was dealing with an application under Section 26 of the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 for a determination of the freehold value of the property. It was concluded that the price to be paid was Fifteen Thousand Nine Hundred and Seventy (£15,970) divided as to £8,200 for Flat 20 and £7,770 for Flat 20A This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 73.26 years.