Shepherd's Bush Lease Extension - Free Consultation

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Main reasons to commence your Shepherd's Bush lease extension


Why you should start your Shepherd's Bush lease extension today:

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

Shepherd's Bush leases on domestic deteriorating in value. Where your lease has about 90 years left, you should start considering the need for a lease extension. If lease term falls under eighty years, you will then have to pay 50% of the property's 'marriage value' in addition to the standard cost of the lease extension to your landlord. Marriage value is the amount of extra value that a lease extension will add to the property. Leasehold owners in Shepherd's Bush will usually qualify for a lease extension; however a solicitor will confirm if you qualify. In some situations you may not qualify. There are prescribed timetables and procedures to comply with once the process has started so it’s wise to be guided by a conveyancer during the process.

Shepherd's Bush property with a lease extension has roughly the same value as a freehold

It is conventional wisdom that a residential leasehold with more than 100 years remaining is worth approximately the equivalent as a freehold. Where an further 90 years added to any lease with more than 30 years unexpired, the premises will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years ahead.

Banks and Building Societies will not loan monies with a short lease

Many mortgage companies require a lengthy amount of time remaining on any leasehold property before they will consider it as adequate security. Even if you don't require a mortgage, you should be mindful that it is probable that someone intending to acquire your property in the future might well do, so in the event that they are unable to obtain a mortgage, then the market price of the property will likely suffer. In the last decade many banks and building societies have increased the required minimum lease length that they are prepared to grant a mortgage on

Lender Requirement
Birmingham Midshires Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
Chelsea 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.
Nationwide Building Society - Our minimum unexpired lease term is 55 years, except where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat, in which case our minimum unexpired term is 90 years.
- There must be at least 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term (regardless of the length of lease at the start).

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
- Where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat and the unexpired lease term on the offer is 90 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 90 years.

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 55 years
- Unexpired lease term less than 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat
- 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 is 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 55 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% 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 (Minimum 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat)
- 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 (does not apply to Shared Ownership)
- 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 charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis

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% 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 Issuing Office.
Santander You must report the unexpired lease term to us and await our instructions if:
1. the unexpired term assumed by our valuer is between 55 and 82 years, but the actual unexpired term differs by more than one year (whether longer or shorter); or
2. the unexpired term assumed by our valuer is more than 82 years but the actual unexpired term is less than 82 years; or
3. no valuation report is provided
However, we will not accept a lease where on expiry of the mortgage:
(i) less than 50 years remain and all or part of the loan is repaid on an interest-only basis: or
(ii) less than 30 years remain and the loan is repaid on a capital and interest basis

We will accept a lease that has been extended under the provisions of the Leasehold Reform Act 1993 provided statutory compensation would be available to the leaseholder.
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

Why use us for your lease extension in Shepherd's Bush?

Lease extensions in Shepherd's Bush can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a lawyer and surveyor with experience in lease extensions.

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 in-depth market knowledge procuring Shepherd's Bush lease extensions and further afield, as well as any potential issues which may arise as well as problems with the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.

Shepherd's Bush Lease Extension Case Summaries:

Stanley, Shepherd's Bush, West London

Last Winter Stanley, came dangerously near to the eighty-year mark with the lease on his studio apartment in Shepherd's Bush. Having purchased his property two decades ago, the unexpired term was of minimal interest. As luck would have it, he became aware that he would soon be paying an inflated amount for a lease extension. Stanley extended the lease just ahead of time in April. Stanley and the landlord in the end settled on a premium of £5,000 . If the lease had dipped lower than eighty years, the price would have increased by a minimum £1,150.

Shepherd's Bush case:

In 2009 we were contacted by Mr F Ramírez who, having bought a garden apartment in Shepherd's Bush in October 2009. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (approximately) price could be for a ninety year lease extension. Comparative residencies in Shepherd's Bush with 100 year plus lease were in the region of £275,000. The average ground rent payable was £65 billed per annum. The lease ran out on 26 February 2092. Having 68 years as a residual term we approximated the premium to the landlord to extend the lease to be between £12,400 and £14,200 not including costs.

Decision in Hammersmith and Fulham

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