With a long leasehold premises in Watford, you are actually purchasing an entitlement to reside in a property for a prescribed time frame. These days flat leases typically tend to be for 99 years or 125. Even though this may appear 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 lease is the cost of extending the lease gets disproportionately greater notably when there are fewer than eighty years left. Residents in Watford with a lease drawing near to 81 years left should seriously think of extending it without delay. When the lease term has under 80 years left, under the relevant legislation the landlord can calculate and demand a greater premium, based on a technical calculation, strangely termed as “marriage value” which is due.
It is generally accepted that a residential leasehold with more than 100 years unexpired lease term is worth roughly the equivalent as a freehold. Where an further ninety years added to all but the shortest lease, the residence will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years ahead.
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Halifax | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| Leeds Building Society | 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage. |
Irrespective of whether you are a tenant or a freeholder in Watford,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 in-depth market knowledge and the close ties they enjoy with Watford valuers.
After protracted correspondence with the landlord of her two bedroom apartment in Watford, Amy commenced the lease extension process just as her lease was approaching the all-important eighty-year mark. The lease extension was concluded in April 2013. The landlord’s fees were negotiated to a tad over 450 pounds.
In 2014 we were e-mailed by Mrs R Parker who, having moved into a one bedroom flat in Watford in January 1997. We are asked if we could estimate the price would likely be to prolong the lease by 90 years. Comparative residencies in Watford with 100 year plus lease were in the region of £218,000. The average ground rent payable was £45 billed quarterly. The lease expired on 26 July 2089. Having 63 years left we calculated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be between £17,100 and £19,800 plus costs.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Watford property is Flats 8, 11 and 15 Craigmore Court 46 Murray Road in December 2013. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 8 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,438 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenants of Flat 11 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,791 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 15 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,638 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . This case affected 3 flats. The unexpired lease term was 71 years.