Owning a flat usually means owning a lease of the property, this is a ‘time-limited’ interest becoming shorter every day. This lease will usually be granted for a set period of time , ordinarily 99 or 125 years, although we have seen longer and shorter terms in St Agnes. Inevitably, the term of lease remaining reduces over time. This is often overlooked and only raises itself as an issue when the residence needs to be sold or re-mortgaged. The fewer the years remaining the lower the value of the property and the more expensive it will be to obtain a lease extension. Qualifying long lease owners in St Agnes have the right to extend the lease for a further ninety years under the 1993 Leasehold Reform Act. Do give careful attention before putting off your St Agnes lease extension. Holding off the cost now simply increases the price you will ultimately have to pay to extend your lease
It is conventional wisdom that a residential leasehold with over 100 years remaining is worth roughly the same as a freehold. Where an additional 90 years added to all but the shortest lease, the premises will be worth the same as a freehold for many years in the future.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Leeds Building Society | 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage. |
| National Westminster Bank | Mortgage term plus 30 years. For Shared Ownership, the remaining term of the lease must be at least 30 years plus the term of the mortgage at the outset of the mortgage. |
| Virgin | 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion. |
The conveyancing solicitors that we work with procure St Agnes 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.
Off the back of lengthy negotiations with the freeholder of her two bedroom flat in St Agnes, Emma initiated the lease extension process as the 80 year mark was rapidly advancing. The transaction completed in September 2008. The landlord’s costs were restricted to below 500 GBP.
In 2013 we were called by Mr J Moreau who, having acquired a basement apartment in St Agnes in August 1997. The dilemma was if we could shed any light on how much (approximately) premium could be to extend the lease by 90 years. Identical properties in St Agnes with 100 year plus lease were worth £280,000. The average ground rent payable was £55 collected every twelve months. The lease expired in 2104. Taking into account 78 years remaining we approximated the premium to the landlord to extend the lease to be within £13,300 and £15,400 plus expenses.
Last year we were called by Mr and Mrs. H Michel , who acquired a first floor flat in St Agnes in April 2012. The dilemma was if we could shed any light on how much (approximately) compensation to the landlord could be for a ninety year extension to my lease. Comparable properties in St Agnes with a long lease were valued around £186,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £65 collected annually. The lease ended in 2084. Having 58 years as a residual term we approximated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £24,700 and £28,600 not including professional charges.