Owning a flat usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a finite term of years. The lease will normally be granted for a prescribed period of time , ordinarily 99 or 125 years, although we have witnessed longer and shorter terms in West Ham. Inevitably, the length of lease left shortens over time. This may slip by relatively unnoticed when the property needs to be disposed of or re-mortgaged. The fewer the years remaining the less it is worth and the more expensive it will be to extend the lease. Qualifying long lease owners in West Ham have the legal entitlement to extend the lease for an additional 90 years under the 1993 Leasehold Reform Act. Do give careful deliberation before putting off your West Ham lease extension. Putting off the cost now simply increases the price you will eventually incur to extend your lease
Leasehold residencies in West Ham with in excess of one hundred years outstanding on the lease are often referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease value the same as a freehold interest in your property. In such situations there is often little upside in purchasing the freehold unless savings on ground rent and maintenance charges justify it.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| 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:
|
| TSB | Minimum of 70 years at mortgage commencement, with 30 years remaining at mortgage redemption. |
Lease extensions in West Ham can be a difficult process. We recommend you secure professional help from a conveyancing solicitor and surveyor with experience in lease extensions.
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 in-depth market knowledge dealing with West Ham lease extensions and further afield, as well as any potential issues which may arise as well as problems with the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal.
Lewis was the the leasehold proprietor of a studio flat in West Ham on the market with a lease of just over 72 years outstanding. Lewis informally contacted his landlord being a well known London-based freehold company for a lease extension. The freeholder was keen to give an extension on non-statutory terms taking the lease to 125 years on the basis of a rise in the rent to £200 annually. Ordinarily, ground rent would not be payable on a lease extension were Lewis to exercise his statutory right. Lewis obtained expert legal guidance and secured satisfactory deal informally and ending up with a market value flat.
Dr Thomas Morris completed a studio flat in West Ham in July 2008. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) premium would be for a 90 year lease extension. Identical residencies in West Ham with a long lease were valued around £260,000. The average ground rent payable was £50 invoiced every twelve months. The lease finished in 2097. Given that there were 71 years remaining we calculated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £9,500 and £11,000 plus fees.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a West Ham residence is 46 Credon Road in January 2014. On 11 September 2013 Deputy District Judge Price sitting at the Bow County Court made a vesting order that the freeholder surrender his lease and be granted a new lease of the Premises on such terms as may be determined by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).The appropriate sum as concluded by the Tribunal was £7225 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 69.77 years.