When it comes to domestic leasehold property in Strawberry Hill, you are actually purchasing a right to live in a property for a set period of time. In recent years flat leases typically tend to be for 99 years or 125. Many leasehold owners become complacent as this seems like a lengthy period of time, you should consider extending the lease sooner rather than later. Accepted thinking is that the shorter the lease is the cost of extending the lease becomes disproportionately more expensive notably when there are fewer than 80 years remaining. Residents in Strawberry Hill with a lease approaching 81 years left should seriously think of extending it as soon as possible. Once the lease term has less than 80 years left, under the relevant statute the freeholder can calculate and charge a larger premium, assessed on a technical computation, known as “marriage value” which is due.
Leasehold premises in Strawberry Hill with in excess of one hundred years outstanding on the lease are often referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your premises. In such situations there is often little upside in purchasing the freehold unless savings on ground rent and maintenance charges merit it.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Bank of Scotland | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| 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 also be not less than 75 years at the outset of the mortgage. |
| 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. |
| Royal Bank of Scotland | Mortgage term plus 30 years. |
The conveyancers that we work with handle Strawberry Hill 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.
Subsequent to protracted correspondence with the freeholder of her ground floor flat in Strawberry Hill, Shannon commenced the lease extension process as the eighty year deadline was swiftly coming. The transaction was finalised in January 2006. The landlord’s costs were kept to an absolute minimum.
Dr Teddy Walker moved into a studio apartment in Strawberry Hill in October 2012. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) compensation to the landlord would be to prolong the lease by a further 90 years. Comparative homes in Strawberry Hill with an extended lease were valued around £300,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £50 billed monthly. The lease expiry date was in 2100. Having 75 years unexpired we approximated the compensation to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £8,600 and £9,800 plus legals.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Strawberry Hill residence is Ground Floor Flat 91 Bath Road in May 2009. in a case where the freeholder could not be traced, the Brentford County Court ordered that the Lease be surrendered in return for the grant of a new lease of the Premises at a premium determined by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal concluded that the price payable by the Applicant for the new lease of the premises be £15,900 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 60.45 years.