Stop! Your Lease Extension in Walsall Could Be FREE

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Many leaseholders in Walsall 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 Walsall 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.

Why you should commence your Walsall lease extension

Main reasons to commence your Walsall lease extension today:

Increase your lease and increase your Walsall property value

The value of Walsall leasehold residential property falls as the lease term becomes shorter and this will have an impact on its saleability. The cost of extending the lease can escalate significantly once the remaining term is below than eighty years

Walsall property with a lease extension has roughly the same value as a freehold

Leasehold residencies in Walsall with over one hundred years unexpired on the lease are sometimes referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your property. In such situations there is often little to be gained by buying the freehold unless savings on ground rent and maintenance charges justify it.

Lending institutions will not loan monies on a short lease

The propensity since over the last decade has been for lenders to tighten lending requirements generally - this has extended to the types of security over which the mortgage is to be charged. This has meant the minimum number of years remaining under the lease required by lenders has increased. In the past mortgage companies would grant a mortgage on a lease with twenty years plus the term of the loan - routinely 50 year leases but those requirements have been chipped away by the requirement for lengthy leases - many now have a minimum term of 75 years as standard.

Lender Requirement
Barclays plc Leases with less than 70 years at the commencement of the mortgage are not acceptable.

Leases with fewer than 70 years should only be referred to the issuing office where the following scenario applies, as discretion may be applied subject to bank approval:

• Property is located in any of the following prestigious developments: Cadogan, Crown, Grosvenor, Howard de Walden, Portman or Wellcome Trust Estates in Central London AND
• The value of the property subject to the short remaining term is £500,000 or more AND
• The loan to value does not exceed 90% for purchases, 90% like for like re-mortgages, 80% for re-mortgages with any element of capital raising and 80% for existing Barclays mortgage borrowers applying for additional borrowing;
Coventry Building Society 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.
Leeds Building Society 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage.
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.

What makes us experts in Walsall lease extensions?

Lease extensions in Walsall can be a difficult process. We recommend you procure guidance from a conveyancer and valuer well versed in the legislation and lease extension process.

We provide you with an expert from a selection of lease extension solicitors, which ensures a targeted and efficient service as you have a dedicated port of call with an individual lawyer. Our lease extension solicitors have a wealth of experience procuring Walsall lease extensions and further afield, as well as any potential issues which may arise as well as problems with the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.

Walsall Lease Extension Case Summaries:

Luca, Walsall, Birmingham,

Luca owned a 2 bedroom flat in Walsall on the market with a lease of a few days over fifty eight years left. Luca on an informal basis spoke with his freeholder a well known London-based freehold company for a lease extension. The landlord indicated a willingness to grant an extension taking the lease to 125 years on the basis of a new rent initially set at £150 per annum and increase every twenty five years thereafter. Ordinarily, ground rent would not be due on a lease extension were Luca to exercise his statutory right. Luca procured expert advice and secured an acceptable resolution informally and sell the flat.

Walsall case:

Last Winter we were approach by Dr T Baker , who was assigned a lease of a studio apartment in Walsall in April 1998. The question was if we could shed any light on how much (approximately) premium would be to prolong the lease by ninety years. Identical properties in Walsall with 100 year plus lease were worth £205,000. The average ground rent payable was £50 collected annually. The lease expired on 16 June 2105. Having 79 years unexpired we approximated the premium to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 not including costs.

Walsall case:

Last Summer we were approach by Dr Mason Bertrand , who took over the lease of a first floor apartment in Walsall in February 1995. We are asked if we could approximate the compensation to the landlord would likely be for a ninety year extension to my lease. Comparative properties in Walsall with 100 year plus lease were worth £275,000. The average amount of ground rent was £65 invoiced per annum. The lease finished in 2094. Taking into account 68 years unexpired we estimated the premium to the landlord to extend the lease to be within £12,400 and £14,200 plus fees.