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Main reasons to start your Sheen Park lease extension


Main reasons to commence your Sheen Park lease extension today:

A Sheen Park leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

The market value of a leasehold property in Sheen Park depends on how many years the lease has left to run. If it is close to or fewer than eighty years you should envisage difficulties on re-sale, so it is advisable to arrange for a lease extension prior to purchasing. Ideally one should start the process of extending the lease is when the lease still has 82 years to run so that all matters can be concluded in advance of the 80 year threshold. Leasehold Reform legislation enables Sheen Park qualifying lessees to a ninety year extension added to their residual lease term (ie if your lease has fifty years left the statutory lease extension will provide a new term of 140 years). The purpose of the valuation is to arrive at an opinion of the premium payable by the lessee to the freeholder for the acquisition of the lease extension.

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

Leasehold residencies in Sheen Park with more than 100 years unexpired on the lease are often regarded as a ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your property. In such circumstances there is often little upside in buying the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and maintenance charges warrant it.

Mortgage lenders may decide not to issue a mortgage on a short lease

The trend since 2008 has been for banks to tighten lending requirements generally - this has extended to the property over which the mortgage is to be granted. This has resulted in the unexpired lease term required by banks has increased. In the past mortgage companies were content with 25 years plus the term of the loan - routinely fifty year leases but those requirements evolved by the requirement for lengthy leases - many now have a minimum term of 75 years as standard.

Lender Requirement
Barclays plc Leases with less than 70 years at the commencement of the mortgage should be declined (see exception below).

Leases with greater than 70 years but fewer than 85 years remaining must be referred to issuing office.

Leases with fewer than 70 years should only be referred to the issuing office where the following scenario applies, as discretion may be applied subject to bank approval:

• Property is located in any of the following prestigious developments: Cadogan, Crown, Grosvenor, Howard de Walden, Portman or Wellcome Trust Estates in Central London AND
• The value of the property subject to the short remaining term is £500,000 or more AND
• The loan to value does not exceed 90% for purchases, 90% like for like re-mortgages, 80% for re-mortgages with any element of capital raising and 80% for existing Barclays mortgage borrowers applying for additional borrowing;
Barnsley Building Society 60 years from the date of the mortgage application subject to 35 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term.
Leeds Building Society 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage.
Lloyds TSB Scotland Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
The Mortgage Works Minimum unexpired lease term is 70 years with 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term.
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:

Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer

New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer

Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.

SECOND HAND PROPERTIES

Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 70 years
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period less than or equal to 5 years

Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 70 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary

Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI

NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)

Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a ground rent (or annual rent) being reviewed and altered on any review basis or methodology

Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1.0% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary

Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn ground rent (annual rent) charges

For the avoidance of doubt, any new build properties completed but not sold pre 30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the lease conforms to the above guidance

* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years

LEASE EXTENSIONS

We require all lease extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to the Issuing Office

Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.

Why use us for your lease extension in Sheen Park?

Lease extensions in Sheen Park can be a difficult process. We recommend you obtain guidance from a conveyancer and surveyor well versed in the legislation and lease extension process.

We provide you with an expert from a selection of lease extension solicitors, which ensures a targeted and efficient service as you have a dedicated port of call with an individual lawyer. Our lease extension solicitors have a wealth of experience dealing with Sheen Park lease extensions and further afield, as well as any potential issues which may arise as well as problems with the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.

Sheen Park Lease Extension Example Cases:

Sebastian, Sheen Park, South West London,

Sebastian owned a conversion apartment in Sheen Park on the market with a lease of a little over 72 years unexpired. Sebastian informally spoke with his freeholder being a well known London-based freehold company for a lease extension. The freeholder indicated a willingness to grant an extension taking the lease to 125 years subject to an increased rent to £50 yearly. No ground rent would be due on a lease extension were Sebastian to invoke his statutory right. Sebastian procured expert advice and was able to make a more informed judgement and handle with the matter and readily saleable.

Sheen Park case:

Last year we were e-mailed by Ms Y Martínez , who took over the lease of a one bedroom flat in Sheen Park in October 1995. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) compensation to the landlord would be for a ninety year lease extension. Comparable flats in Sheen Park with a long lease were valued around £166,400. The average ground rent payable was £60 collected yearly. The lease end date was on 12 April 2079. Having 54 years left we approximated the premium to the landlord to extend the lease to be between £32,300 and £37,400 not including fees.

Decision in Wandsworth

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Sheen Park premises is 19 St. Margarets Crescent in August 2010. the tribunal was of the view that the premium to be paid by the leaseholder for the freehold reversion was £51,983.00 This case related to 3 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 66.25 years.