Stop! Your Lease Extension in Preston Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Preston 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 Preston 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.

Top reasons for Preston lease extension


Main reasons to commence your Preston lease extension today:

A Preston leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

For those whose Preston home is held on a long lease, the message is clear – if no remedial action is taken, the property will eventually revert to the freeholder, leaving you empty-handed. The shorter the lease the lower the value of the property and the more it will cost to extend the lease.

Preston property with a lease extension is almost the same value as a freehold

Leasehold residencies in Preston with more than 100 years unexpired 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 buying the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and maintenance charges justify it.

Lending institutions may decide not to lend on a short lease

The definition of a short lease depends on the specific mortgage company, yet banks and building societies start to become concerned at around 75 years. This may cause difficulties once you come to market or remortgage your property as it will be practically unmortgageable. Even though you may not have an immediate plan to sell but when you do your buyer must wait two years before they can exercise the right to a a lease extension.

Lender Requirement
Barnsley Building Society 60 years from the date of the mortgage application subject to 35 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term.
Halifax Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
Lloyds TSB Scotland Minimum 70 years from the date 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
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.

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

Irrespective of whether you are a tenant or a freeholder in Preston,the lease extension solicitors that we work with will always be prepared to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their experience and the close ties they enjoy with Preston valuers.

Preston Lease Extension Example Cases:

Gemma, Preston, Lancashire,

Subsequent to unsuccessful correspondence with the freeholder of her basement flat in Preston, Gemma initiated the lease extension process as the eighty year threshold was quickly coming. The legal work was concluded in July 2014. The landlord’s costs were restricted to a tad over 450 GBP.

Preston case:

Last Christmas we were e-mailed by Mr and Mrs. T Thompson , who was assigned a lease of a one bedroom apartment in Preston in May 2012. The question was if we could estimate the premium could be for a ninety year extension to my lease. Identical flats in Preston with 100 year plus lease were worth £255,000. The average ground rent payable was £50 invoiced monthly. The lease lapsed on 18 September 2097. Taking into account 71 years as a residual term we approximated the compensation to the landlord to extend the lease to be between £9,500 and £11,000 exclusive of costs.

Decision in Brent

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Preston premises is Ground Floor Flat 79 London Road in September 2012. the Tribunal held that the premium payable for the lease extension should be £7,636 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired residue of the current lease was 74 years.