Stop! Your Lease Extension in Shepherd's Bush Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Shepherd's Bush 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 Shepherd's Bush 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 Shepherd's Bush lease extension


Main reasons to start your Shepherd's Bush lease extension today:

Increase your lease and increase your Shepherd's Bush property value

Unfortunately that a Shepherd's Bush residential lease is a wasting asset. The lease value reduces in proportion to its lease length. The extent of this is not fully appreciated in the first few years due to the depreciation being disguised by increases in the Shepherd's Bush property market.Once your lease gets to 85ish years, you should start thinking about a lease extension. If lease term drops under 80 years, you will then be required to pay half of the property's 'marriage value' in addition to the usual cost of the lease extension to the landlord. Marriage value is the amount of extra value that a lease extension will add the property The majority of flat owners in Shepherd's Bush will be able to extend under the legislation; however a lawyer should be able to clarify whether you are eligibility. In some cases you may not qualify. There are also strict timetables and procedures to be adhered to once the process has commenced and you will need to be guided by your conveyancer from beginning to end of the formalities.

An extended lease has roughly the same value as a freehold

It is generally considered that a property with more than one hundred years remaining is worth approximately the equivalent as a freehold. Where an additional ninety years added to all but the shortest lease, the premises will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years in the future.

Lending institutions may decide not to finance a property on a short lease

The trend since over the last decade has been for lenders to tighten lending criteria generally - this has extended to the property over which the home loan is to be granted. This has meant the unexpired lease term required by lenders has increased. In the past lenders were content with 25 years plus the term of the loan - typically fifty year leases but those requirements have been chipped away by the requirement for longer and longer leases - many use a minimum term of 75 years as a prerequisite.

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.
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.
National Westminster Bank Mortgage term plus 30 years.

For Shared Ownership, the remaining term of the lease must be at least 75 years plus the term of the mortgage at the outset 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
TSB Minimum of 70 years at mortgage commencement, with 30 years remaining at mortgage redemption.

Get in touch with one of our Shepherd's Bush lease extension solicitors or enfranchisement solicitors

The lawyers that we work with undertake 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 conveyancing solicitor we work with provide it.

Shepherd's Bush Lease Extension Case Studies:

Louise, Shepherd's Bush, West London,

After protracted discussions with the freeholder of her one bedroom apartment in Shepherd's Bush, Louise started the lease extension process just as her lease was nearing the crucial eighty-year threshold. The transaction completed in September 2006. The freeholder’s fees were restricted to less than 450 pounds.

Shepherd's Bush case:

Dr R Jones acquired a purpose-built flat in Shepherd's Bush in January 2011. We are asked if we could approximate the premium would be to extend the lease by ninety years. Identical homes in Shepherd's Bush with an extended lease were in the region of £191,400. The mid-range ground rent payable was £55 billed yearly. The lease ended on 9 August 2080. Considering the 54 years remaining we estimated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £34,200 and £39,600 not including legals.

Decision in Hammersmith and Fulham

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Shepherd's Bush property is 82 Minford Gardens in February 2009. The Tribunal determined that the enfranchisement price was £37,341 This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 72.92 years.