Main reasons to start your St John's Wood lease extension

Top reasons for lease extension now:

A St John's Wood leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

Owning a apartment usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a set term of years. This lease will usually be granted for a set period of time , ordinarily 99 or 125 years, although we have witnessed longer and shorter terms in St John's Wood. Clearly, the length of lease left shortens over time. This may slip by relatively unnoticed when the flat or house has to be disposed of or refinanced. The shorter the lease the less it is worth and the more expensive it will be to obtain a lease extension. Eligible long lease owners in St John's Wood have the right to extend the lease for an additional ninety years in accordance with legislation. Do give careful deliberation before putting off your St John's Wood lease extension. Putting off the cost now only increases the price you will eventually have to pay for a lease extension

St John's Wood property with a lease extension has roughly the same value as a freehold

It is generally accepted that a residential leasehold with over 100 years remaining is worth approximately the same as a freehold. Where an additional 90 years added to all but the shortest lease, the premises will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years in the future.

Banks and Building Societies will not finance a property on a short lease

Banks and Building Societies have specific criteria when loaning funds charged on leasehold homes. Many will simply refuse lend at all once the remaining lease term goes below a certain unexpired lease term. Many Banks and Building Societies will not consider property with a remaining term of less than seventy years as adequate security. As well as this being important when selling, it is also relevant if you are intending to remortgage your St John's Wood home.

Get in touch with one of our St John's Wood lease extension solicitors or enfranchisement solicitors

The conveyancing solicitors that we work with handle St John's Wood 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.

St John's Wood Lease Extension Case Studies:

Lewis, St John's Wood, London

14 months ago Lewis, started to get near to the eighty-year threshold with the lease on his first floor flat in St John's Wood. In buying his flat two decades ago, the unexpired term was of minimal interest. Luckily, he recognised he would imminently be paying an escalated premium for Extending the lease. Lewis was able to extend his lease just ahead of time last May. Lewis and the freeholder via the managing agents subsequently agreed on the final figure of £5,000 . If he failed to meet the deadline, the sum would have gone up by at least £1,025.

St John's Wood case:

Dr Evan Gómez took over the lease of a newly refurbished apartment in St John's Wood in September 2007. The question was if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) premium would likely be for a 90 year lease extension. Identical properties in St John's Wood with 100 year plus lease were valued about £260,000. The average amount of ground rent was £50 billed quarterly. The lease elapsed on 21 August 2097. Having 71 years left we calculated the compensation to the landlord to extend the lease to be within £9,500 and £11,000 exclusive of expenses.