Stop! Your Lease Extension in St Leonard Shoreditch Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in St Leonard Shoreditch 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 St Leonard Shoreditch 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.

Main reasons to start your St Leonard Shoreditch lease extension


Top reasons for lease extension now:

Increase your lease and increase your St Leonard Shoreditch property value

St Leonard Shoreditch 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 St Leonard Shoreditch residential leaseholders to extend the terms of long leases. Where you are a leasehold owner in St Leonard Shoreditch you should investigate if your lease has between 70 and 90 years remaining. There are good reasons why a St Leonard Shoreditch flat owner with a lease having around 80 years left should take action to make sure that a lease extension is put in place without delay

St Leonard Shoreditch property with a lease extension is almost the same value as a freehold

Leasehold premises in St Leonard Shoreditch with in excess of one hundred years remaining on the lease are often regarded as a ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease value the same as a freehold interest in your premises. In such circumstances there is often little to be gained by purchasing the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and estate charges warrant it.

Mortgage lenders may not loan monies on a short lease

The trend since 2008 has been for mortgage companies to tighten lending requirements generally - this has extended to the types of security over which the mortgage is to be granted. This has meant the unexpired lease term required by mortgage companies has increased. In the past lenders would grant a mortgage on a lease with 25 years plus the term of the loan - routinely 50 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
Accord Mortgages 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.
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.
Leeds Building Society 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage.
The Mortgage Works Minimum unexpired lease term is 70 years with 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term.
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

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 70 years
- 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 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 70 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 1.0% 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
- 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
- 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 reviewed and altered on any review basis or methodology

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 1.0% 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 the Issuing Office

Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.

Why use us for your lease extension in St Leonard Shoreditch?

Irrespective of whether you are a tenant or a freeholder in St Leonard Shoreditch,the lease extension experts that we work with will always be prepared to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their in-depth market knowledge and the close ties they enjoy with St Leonard Shoreditch valuers.

St Leonard Shoreditch Lease Extension Case Studies:

Erin, St Leonard Shoreditch, London,

In the wake of eight months of unsuccessful discussions with the freeholder of her one bedroom flat in St Leonard Shoreditch, Erin initiated the lease extension process just as the lease was coming close to the crucial 80-year mark. The legal work completed in November 2005. The freeholder’s costs were kept to an absolute minimum.

St Leonard Shoreditch case:

Mr Jake Hernández took over the lease of a one bedroom apartment in St Leonard Shoreditch in March 2005. We are asked if we could estimate the price could be to extend the lease by ninety years. Similar premises in St Leonard Shoreditch with an extended lease were worth £242,600. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £45 collected yearly. The lease expired on 4 April 2093. Taking into account 67 years unexpired we estimated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be between £11,400 and £13,200 plus fees.

Decision in Hackney

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a St Leonard Shoreditch property is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case related to 2 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 72.39 years.