Stop! Your Lease Extension in Swanland Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Swanland 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 Swanland 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 Swanland lease extension


Top reasons for lease extension now:

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

With a domestic leasehold premises in Swanland, you are actually purchasing a right to reside in a property for a prescribed time frame. These days 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 may consider extending the lease sooner as opposed to later. The general rule is that the shorter the number of years is the cost of extending the lease gets disproportionately more expensive particularly when there are fewer than eighty years remaining. Anyone in Swanland with a lease approaching 81 years remaining should seriously think of extending it without delay. Once a lease has less than eighty years left, under the current legislation the landlord is entitled to calculate and charge a larger amount, assessed on a technical computation, strangely termed as “marriage value” which is payable.

An extended lease is almost the same value as a freehold

Leasehold properties in Swanland with over 100 years left on the lease are sometimes regarded as a ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your premises. In such circumstances there is often little upside in purchasing the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and service charges merit it.

Mortgage lenders will not loan monies with a short lease

Mortgage lenders have specific criteria when lending funds charged on leasehold property. Many will simply not lend at all once an unexpired lease term falls below a specified unexpired lease term. Many Lending institutions will not consider property with a remaining below 75 years suitable security. In addition to impacting your ability to sell, it is also relevant where you are seeking to refinance your Swanland property.

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.
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.
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.
Royal Bank of Scotland Mortgage term plus 30 years.

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

Irrespective of whether you are a tenant or a landlord in Swanland,the lease extension experts that we work with will always be willing to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their experience and the close ties they enjoy with Swanland valuers.

Swanland Lease Extension Example Cases:

Kyle, Swanland, East Yorkshire

Twenty four months ago Kyle, came critically close to the eighty-year mark with the lease on his one bedroom flat in Swanland. Having bought his home twenty years ago, the lease term was of no relevance. Fortunately, he recognised he would imminently be paying an escalated premium for a lease extension. Kyle arranged for a lease extension just under the wire last March. Kyle and the landlord who owned the flat above eventually settled on sum of £5,500 . If he failed to meet the deadline, the amount would have increased by at least £975.

Swanland case:

In 2009 we were e-mailed by Mrs Samantha Hall who, having was assigned a lease of a garden flat in Swanland in January 2005. We are asked if we could estimate the price could be to prolong the lease by an additional years. Similar homes in Swanland with a long lease were in the region of £290,000. The average ground rent payable was £45 collected monthly. The lease lapsed in 2099. Given that there were 73 years unexpired we approximated the premium to the landlord to extend the lease to be within £9,500 and £11,000 exclusive of professional charges.

Swanland case:

Dr V Martinez bought a garden apartment in Swanland in January 1998. The dilemma was if we could approximate the premium would likely be for a 90 year extension to my lease. Identical properties in Swanland with an extended lease were in the region of £235,600. The average ground rent payable was £60 invoiced every twelve months. The lease concluded on 22 September 2088. Given that there were 62 years unexpired we estimated the premium to the landlord for the lease extension to be between £21,900 and £25,200 exclusive of expenses.