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Why you should commence your West Hampstead lease extension


Why you should commence your West Hampstead lease extension today:

A West Hampstead leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

West Hampstead leases on domestic deteriorating in value. if your lease has about ninety years left, you should start thinking about a lease extension. If lease term falls under 80 years, you will then be required to pay 50% of the property's 'marriage value' on top of the usual cost of the lease extension to the landlord. Marriage value is the amount of extra value that a lease extension will add to the property. Leasehold owners in West Hampstead will usually be legally entitled to a lease extension; however a solicitor should be able confirm if you qualify. In certain cases you may not be entitled. There are prescribed deadlines and formalities to comply with once the process has commenced so it’s sensible to be guided by a lawyer during the process.

An extended lease is almost the same value as a freehold

It is conventional wisdom that a residential leasehold with in excess of one hundred years remaining is worth roughly the equivalent as a freehold. Where an further ninety years added to any lease with more than 30 years unexpired, the residence will be worth the same as a freehold for decades to come.

Mortgage lenders will not lend with a short lease

Many mortgage lenders insist on a lengthy amount of time remaining on any leasehold property before they will consider it as adequate security. Even if you don't need a mortgage, you should be conscious that it is probable that someone intending to acquire your property in the future might well do, so in the event that they are not able to secure a mortgage, then the value of your property will likely suffer. In the last decade most mortgage lenders have increased the required minimum lease length that they are willing to accept

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.
Skipton Building Society 85 years from the date of completion of the mortgage

For Buy to Let cases:
- lettings must not breach any of the lessee’s covenants; and
- consent of the lessor to lettings must be obtained if necessary
Royal Bank of Scotland Mortgage term plus 30 years.
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 Hampstead lease extension solicitors or enfranchisement solicitors

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

West Hampstead Lease Extension Case Summaries:

Hunter, West Hampstead, North London

Half a year ago Hunter, started to get close to the 80-year mark with the lease on his purpose- built flat in West Hampstead. Having bought his flat two decades ago, the length of the lease was of minimal concern. Thankfully, he realised he needed to take action soon on Extending the lease. Hunter extended the lease just ahead of time in May. Hunter and the landlord who owned the flat above ultimately settled on a premium of £5,000 . If he had missed the deadline, the amount would have gone up by a minimum £1,125.

West Hampstead case:

In 2011 we were phoned by Mr and Mrs. R Peterson who, having took over the lease of a one bedroom apartment in West Hampstead in November 2006. The dilemma was if we could estimate the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease. Comparable properties in West Hampstead with a long lease were in the region of £265,000. The average ground rent payable was £55 collected per annum. The lease terminated in 2099. Considering the 74 years as a residual term we estimated the premium to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £9,500 and £11,000 plus costs.

Decision in Barnet

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a West Hampstead premises is Flat A 372 Cricklewood Lane in January 2013. The Tribunal decided that the premium for the extended lease should be £5,750.00 and that the terms of the new lease should be those set out in annex to the decsion This case affected 1 flat.