With a residential leasehold premises in Washwood Heath, you effectively rent it for a certain amount of time. In recent years flat leases are usually granted for 99 years or 125. Even though this may appear like a long period of time, you should consider a lease extension sooner rather than later. Accepted thinking is that the shorter the number of years is the cost of extending the lease increases markedly especially once there are fewer than 80 years remaining. Leasehold owners in Washwood Heath with a lease drawing near to 81 years left should seriously think of extending it sooner as opposed to later. Once a lease has under 80 years remaining, under the relevant Act the landlord is entitled to calculate and levy a greater amount, assessed on a technical computation, strangely termed as “marriage value” which is due.
It is generally accepted that a property with more than one hundred years unexpired lease term is worth approximately the same as a freehold. Where an further 90 years added to any lease with more than 35 years remaining, the premises will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years in the future.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Barnsley Building Society | 60 years from the date of the mortgage application subject to 35 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term. |
| Birmingham Midshires | 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 be at least 30 years plus the term of the mortgage at the outset of the mortgage. |
| Santander | If the property is leasehold, the remaining unexpired lease term at the end of the new mortgage term must be at least 50 years where any part of the mortgage is on Interest Only and 30 years if all loan parts are on Capital Repayment and Interest. You must report the unexpired lease term to us and await our instructions if:
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Retaining our service will provide you increased control over the value of your Washwood Heath leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and marketable in respect of lease length should you wish to sell. The conveyancers that we work with have a in-depth market knowledge handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
Noah owned a 2 bedroom flat in Washwood Heath being sold with a lease of a little over 61 years unexpired. Noah informally contacted his landlord a well known Bristol-based freehold company and enquired on a premium to extend the lease. The landlord was keen to agree an extension on non-statutory terms taking the lease to 125 years on the basis of a rise in the rent to £50 yearly. No ground rent would be payable on a lease extension were Noah to invoke his statutory right. Noah procured expert legal guidance and secured satisfactory resolution informally and sell the flat.
In 2013 we were e-mailed by Ms A Lefebvre who, having purchased a basement flat in Washwood Heath in May 2001. The question was if we could approximate the compensation to the landlord could be for a 90 year lease extension. Comparative residencies in Washwood Heath with 100 year plus lease were in the region of £216,000. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £60 billed every twelve months. The lease ran out on 24 July 2084. Given that there were 58 years left we approximated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be between £28,500 and £33,000 not including legals.
Ms Jodie Vincent acquired a first floor apartment in Washwood Heath in June 2007. The dilemma was if we could estimate the price would be to extend the lease by ninety years. Similar flats in Washwood Heath with an extended lease were valued about £205,000. The average ground rent payable was £50 invoiced monthly. The lease expired in 2104. Considering the 78 years unexpired we calculated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 plus legals.