Owning a apartment usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a finite term of years. This lease will normally be granted for a fixed period of time , ordinarily 99 or 125 years, although we have witnessed longer and shorter terms in West Hill. Inevitably, the term of lease remaining reduces over time. This may slip by relatively unnoticed when the flat or house has to be disposed of or refinanced. The fewer the years remaining the lower the value of the property and the more expensive it will be to obtain a lease extension. Qualifying leaseholders in West Hill have the legal entitlement to extend the lease for an additional 90 years in accordance with statute. Do give due attention before delaying your West Hill lease extension. Putting off that expense now simply increases the price you will ultimately have to pay to extend your lease
It is generally considered that a residential leasehold with over one hundred years unexpired lease term is worth roughly the equivalent as a freehold. Where an additional ninety years added to any lease with more than 35 years left, the property will be equivalent in value to a freehold for decades to come.
| 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. |
| 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. |
| Santander | You must report the unexpired lease term to us and await our instructions if: 1. the unexpired term assumed by our valuer is between 55 and 82 years, but the actual unexpired term differs by more than one year (whether longer or shorter); or 2. the unexpired term assumed by our valuer is more than 82 years but the actual unexpired term is less than 82 years; or 3. no valuation report is provided However, we will not accept a lease where on expiry of the mortgage: (i) less than 50 years remain and all or part of the loan is repaid on an interest-only basis: or (ii) less than 30 years remain and the loan is repaid on a capital and interest basis We will accept a lease that has been extended under the provisions of the Leasehold Reform Act 1993 provided statutory compensation would be available to the leaseholder. |
| Royal Bank of Scotland | Mortgage term plus 30 years. |
Regardless of whether you are a tenant or a freeholder in West Hill,the lease extension experts that we work with will always be willing to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their experience and the close ties they enjoy with West Hill valuers.
Last year Leon, came precariously near to the 80-year threshold with the lease on his purpose- built apartment in West Hill. In buying his flat two decades ago, the lease term was of little significance. Thankfully, he recognised he needed to take action soon on a lease extension. Leon was able to extend his lease just in the nick of time last April. Leon and the landlord who owned the flat above subsequently agreed on the final figure of £6,000 . If the lease had fallen to less than eighty years, the amount would have increased by at least £900.
Last month we were e-mailed by Mrs K Rodríguez , who was assigned a lease of a garden apartment in West Hill in April 2008. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (approximately) compensation to the landlord could be to extend the lease by a further 90 years. Identical homes in West Hill with an extended lease were in the region of £255,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £50 invoiced annually. The lease end date was in 2095. Having 70 years left we estimated the premium to the landlord to extend the lease to be within £9,500 and £11,000 not including costs.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a West Hill premises is 158 West Hill in November 2010. the Tribunal held that the premium to be paid for the freehold reversion should be £99,650 This case was in relation to 7 flats. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 75.88 years.