Stop! Your Lease Extension in Tredegar Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Tredegar 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 Tredegar 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 commence your Tredegar lease extension


Why you should commence your Tredegar lease extension today:

A Tredegar leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

The value of Tredegar leasehold residential property falls as the lease term becomes shorter and this will have an impact on its saleability. The cost of a lease extension can increase materialy once the unexpired lease term is less than 80 years

An extended lease has roughly the same value as a freehold

It is generally considered that a property with more than 100 years remaining is worth approximately the same as a freehold. Where an additional ninety years added to any lease with more than 45 years unexpired, the residence will be equivalent in value to a freehold for decades to come.

Lenders may decide not to loan monies with a short lease

Most high street banks are tightening their criteria and many now want flats to have at least 60 if not 70 years remaining once the mortgage has expired. Given that a number of flats in Tredegar were built in the fifties, sixties and seventies as a result many now require lease extensions if they if they are to be mortgageable.

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.
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.
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 be at least 30 years plus the term of the mortgage at the outset of the mortgage.
Nationwide Building Society

- Our minimum unexpired lease term is 55 years, except where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat, in which case our minimum unexpired term is 90 years. 
- There must be at least 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term (regardless of the length of lease at the start).

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
- Where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat and the unexpired lease term on the offer is 90 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 90 years. 

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 55 years
- Unexpired lease term less than 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat
- 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 is 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 55 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% 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 (Minimum 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat)
- 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 (does not apply to Shared Ownership)
- 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 charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis

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% 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 a proposed Lease Extension does not meet these requirements, however you feel that this is in the best interest for our mutual client, please refer all details to the Issuing Office for us to consider. 

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.

What makes us experts in Tredegar lease extensions?

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

Tredegar Lease Extension Example Cases:

Luca, Tredegar, Abertillery,

Luca owned a 2 bedroom flat in Tredegar being sold with a lease of fraction over fifty eight years unexpired. Luca informally approached his freeholder being a well known London-based freehold company for a lease extension. The landlord was keen to grant an extension on non-statutory terms taking the lease to 125 years on the basis of a new rent at the outset set at £100 per annum and doubled every 25 years thereafter. No ground rent would be payable on a lease extension were Luca to exercise his statutory right. Luca obtained expert advice and secured satisfactory resolution informally and ending up with a market value flat.

Tredegar case:

Last Spring we were phoned by Mr David Bonnet , who took over the lease of a ground floor apartment in Tredegar in June 2012. The question was if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) premium would likely be to prolong the lease by an additional years. Identical properties in Tredegar with an extended lease were worth £208,600. The average ground rent payable was £60 invoiced per annum. The lease came to a finish in 2083. Having 57 years left we estimated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be between £30,400 and £35,200 exclusive of professional charges.

Tredegar case:

Last Christmas we were phoned by Dr A Mason , who moved into a one bedroom apartment in Tredegar in July 1997. We are asked if we could approximate the premium would be for a 90 year lease extension. Comparable residencies in Tredegar with a long lease were in the region of £200,000. The average amount of ground rent was £50 invoiced monthly. The lease lapsed in 2103. Taking into account 77 years left we calculated the compensation to the landlord to extend the lease to be between £8,600 and £9,800 not including legals.