Stop! Your Lease Extension in Streatham Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Streatham 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 Streatham 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.

Top reasons for Streatham lease extension


Why you should commence your Streatham lease extension today:

A Streatham lease depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

The only way is down when it comes to Streatham lease terms. Streatham flats that have a residual term shorter than eighty years will reduce in market price at a rapid rate, and the cost of extending your lease will increase.

Streatham property with a lease extension is almost the same value as a freehold

Leasehold residencies in Streatham with in excess of 100 years unexpired 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 to be gained by buying the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and estate charges warrant it.

Lending institutions may decide not to grant a mortgage with a short lease

The trend since over the last decade has been for mortgage companies to tighten lending requirements generally - this has extended to the types of security over which the home loan is to be charged. This has resulted in the minimum number of years remaining under the lease required by mortgage companies has increased. In the past lenders would grant a mortgage on a lease with twenty years plus the term of the loan - routinely fifty year leases but those requirements evolved by the requirement for lengthy leases - many use a minimum term of 75 years as a prerequisite.

Lender Requirement
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 75 years plus the term of the mortgage 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.
Virgin 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion.
Yorkshire 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.

Get in touch with one of our Streatham lease extension solicitors or enfranchisement solicitors

The conveyancers that we work with handle Streatham 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.

Streatham Lease Extension Case Summaries:

Muhammad, Streatham, South London

During the course of the last few months Muhammad, started to get close to the eighty-year mark with the lease on his first floor apartment in Streatham. In buying his flat two decades ago, the length of the lease was of little concern. Luckily, he recognised he would soon be paying an escalated premium for a lease extension. Muhammad arranged for a lease extension at the eleventh hour last April. Muhammad and the freeholder in the end settled on sum of £5,500 . If the lease had slipped lower than 80 years, the premium would have gone up by at least £1,075.

Streatham case:

Last Winter we were e-mailed by Mr and Mrs. R Edwards , who took over the lease of a first floor flat in Streatham in November 2007. The dilemma was if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) price could be for a ninety year lease extension. Identical homes in Streatham with an extended lease were valued around £245,000. The average ground rent payable was £50 billed annually. The lease elapsed in 2094. Considering the 68 years outstanding we estimated the premium to the landlord to extend the lease to be between £9,500 and £11,000 not including costs.

Decision in Lambeth

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Streatham flat is Flat 12, Newlands Court Streatham Common North in May 2012. the decision of the Tribunal was that the premium payable by the Applicants to the Respondent for the new lease of the Premises be £70,140. This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 23.25 years.