Stop! Your Lease Extension in West Barnes Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in West Barnes 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 West Barnes 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 West Barnes lease extension


Main reasons to commence your West Barnes lease extension today:

Increase your lease and increase your West Barnes property value

There is no doubt about it a leasehold flat or house in West Barnes is a wasting asset as a result of the diminishing lease term. If the residual term has, over 99 years to run then this decrease may be fractional that being said there will become a stage when a lease has under than eighty years remaining as part of the premium you will incur is what is termed as a marriage value. This could increase sharply the cost. It is the main logic behind why you should extend the lease sooner as opposed to later. The majority of flat owners in West Barnes will meet the qualifying criteria; however a lawyer should be able to advise if you qualify for a lease extension. In limited situations you may not qualify, the most common reason being that you have not been the owner of the property for two years.

An extended lease has roughly the same value as a freehold

Leasehold residencies in West Barnes with more than one hundred years left on the lease are often 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 reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and estate charges warrant it.

Banks and Building Societies may not issue a mortgage with a short lease

Banks and building societies are really clamping down as regards to properties in West Barnes with short leases. For instance you might discover that their lending requirements are stricter and that they alter interest rates depending on how many years are left on the lease. Some may even refuse to lend completely, so where you wanted to sell, your only options would be to find a cash purchaser, or hope for the best at auction thus restricting the amount of potential purchasers.

Lender Requirement
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.
Lloyds TSB Scotland Minimum 70 years from the date 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.
Virgin 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion.

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

Retaining our service will provide you enhanced control over the value of your West Barnes leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and saleable in relation to the lease length should you want to sell. The lawyers that we work with are well versed in the legislation handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.

West Barnes Lease Extension Case Summaries:

Cameron, West Barnes, South West London

Half a year ago Cameron, started to get close to the 80-year threshold with the lease on his first floor flat in West Barnes. In buying his property two decades ago, the length of the lease was of no importance. As luck would have it, he recognised he would imminently be paying way over the odds for a lease extension. Cameron extended the lease just under the wire last January. Cameron and the landlord in the end agreed on the final figure of £5,500 . If the lease had slid to less than eighty years, the price would have escalated by at least £875.

West Barnes case:

In 2009 we were e-mailed by Mrs Alice Richardson who, having was assigned a lease of a ground floor flat in West Barnes in September 2008. The question was if we could approximate the compensation to the landlord would likely be to prolong the lease by an additional years. Similar homes in West Barnes with 100 year plus lease were valued around £254,200. The average ground rent payable was £60 billed yearly. The lease lapsed in 2077. Given that there were 51 years as a residual term we approximated the compensation to the freeholder to extend the lease to be between £43,700 and £50,600 exclusive of professional charges.

Decision in Kingston upon Thames

An example of a Lease Extension case for a West Barnes premises is Flat D 15 Claremont Gardens in September 2013. TheTribunal determined in accordance with section48 and Schedule13 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease should be fourteen thousand one hundred and eighty seven pounds (£14,187.00) This case affected 1 flat.