Shepherd's Bush leases on residential properties are gradually losing value. The shorter the remaining lease term becomes, the less it is worth – and as a result any extension of the lease gets more expensive. Legislation has been in place for sometime now allowing qualifying Shepherd's Bush residential leaseholders to extend the terms of long leases. If you are a leasehold owner in Shepherd's Bush you should investigate if your lease has between seventy and ninety years remaining. There are compelling reasons why a Shepherd's Bush leaseholder with a lease having around 80 years remaining should take action to make sure that a lease extension is actioned without delay
Leasehold premises in Shepherd's Bush with in excess of one hundred years remaining on the lease are often referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease value the same as a freehold interest in your property. In such situations there is often little upside in purchasing the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and maintenance charges merit it.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| 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. |
| 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 |
| Royal Bank of Scotland | Mortgage term plus 30 years. |
| Virgin | 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion. |
The conveyancers that we work with procure Shepherd's Bush 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.
In the wake of eight months of unsuccessful negotiations with the freeholder of her leasehold flat in Shepherd's Bush, Rachel started the lease extension process just as the lease was approaching the critical eighty-year threshold. The transaction was concluded in March 2013. The landlord’s costs were kept to an absolute minimum.
Last Autumn we were phoned by Dr Sarah Sánchez , who took over the lease of a garden apartment in Shepherd's Bush in October 2005. The dilemma was if we could shed any light on how much (approximately) compensation to the landlord could be for a 90 year lease extension. Identical flats in Shepherd's Bush with a long lease were valued about £250,400. The mid-range ground rent payable was £65 collected annually. The lease lapsed on 13 January 2089. Considering the 64 years left we estimated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £19,000 and £22,000 not including legals.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Shepherd's Bush flat is 82 Minford Gardens in February 2009. The Tribunal determined that the enfranchisement price was £37,341 This case related to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 72.92 years.