Stop! Your Lease Extension in Shaftesbury Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Shaftesbury 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 Shaftesbury 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 start your Shaftesbury lease extension


Why you should commence your Shaftesbury lease extension today:

A Shaftesbury lease depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

With a domestic leasehold premises in Shaftesbury, you effectively rent it for a certain period of time. These days flat leases are usually granted for 99 years or 125. Many leasehold owners become complacent as this seems like a long period of time, you should consider a lease extension sooner as opposed to later. Accepted thinking is that the shorter the number of years is the cost of extending the lease increases markedly notably once there are fewer than 80 years left. Residents in Shaftesbury with a lease nearing 81 years unexpired should seriously think of extending it as soon as possible. Once a lease has under eighty years left, under the current legislation the landlord is entitled to calculate and levy a greater premium, based on a technical multiplication, strangely termed as “marriage value” which is payable.

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

Leasehold premises in Shaftesbury with more than one hundred years unexpired on the lease are sometimes referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your premises. In such situations there is often little upside in buying the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and estate charges justify it.

Banks and Building Societies may not lend on a short lease

Lenders are tightening their criteria and a meaningful number now expect flats to have at least 60 if not 70 years left at the expiry of the mortgage. Given that a number of flats in Shaftesbury were created in the 1950s, 1960s and 1970s as a result many now require lease extensions if they if they are to be mortgageable.

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.
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.
Lloyds TSB Scotland Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
Royal Bank of Scotland Mortgage term plus 30 years.

What makes us experts in Shaftesbury lease extensions?

Regardless of whether you are a tenant or a freeholder in Shaftesbury,the lease extension experts that we work with will always be willing to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their in-depth market knowledge and the close ties they enjoy with Shaftesbury valuers.

Shaftesbury Lease Extension Example Cases:

Theo, Shaftesbury, Dorset

In 2014 Theo, came critically close to the eighty-year threshold with the lease on his ground floor flat in Shaftesbury. Having bought his flat two decades ago, the length of the lease was of little bearing. Luckily, it dawned on him that he would imminently be paying an escalated premium for Extending the lease. Theo extended the lease just ahead of time last May. Theo and the freeholder ultimately settled on sum of £6,000 . If he failed to meet the deadline, the sum would have increased by at least £1,025.

Shaftesbury case:

Last Winter we were approach by Mr A Bertrand , who bought a newly refurbished apartment in Shaftesbury in March 1995. We are asked if we could estimate the compensation to the landlord would likely be to extend the lease by an additional years. Comparative residencies in Shaftesbury with 100 year plus lease were in the region of £200,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £50 billed monthly. The lease came to a finish on 6 April 2104. Given that there were 78 years unexpired we approximated the premium to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £8,600 and £9,800 not including legals.

Shaftesbury case:

Last Autumn we were called by Dr E Morel , who bought a one bedroom apartment in Shaftesbury in March 2001. The dilemma was if we could approximate the premium would likely be to prolong the lease by ninety years. Comparative residencies in Shaftesbury with 100 year plus lease were in the region of £267,600. The average ground rent payable was £65 collected every twelve months. The lease ran out on 2 October 2093. Having 67 years remaining we estimated the compensation to the landlord to extend the lease to be within £14,300 and £16,400 not including costs.