Owning a flat usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a finite term of years. This lease will usually be granted for a fixed period of time , ordinarily 99 or 125 years, although we have seen longer and shorter terms in Whitby. Clearly, the length of lease remaining reduces as time goes by. This may slip by relatively unnoticed when the residence has 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 obtain a lease extension. Qualifying long lease owners in Whitby have the legal entitlement to extend the lease for an additional 90 years in accordance with the 1993 Leasehold Reform Act. You should give careful consideration before putting off your Whitby lease extension. Putting off that expense now simply increases the price you will ultimately have to pay to extend your lease
Leasehold premises in Whitby with more than 100 years remaining on the lease are sometimes 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 justify it.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Chelsea Building Society | 85 years from the date of completion of the mortgage. Please ensure that you explain the implications of a short term lease to the borrower. |
| 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. |
| Leeds Building Society | 85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage. |
| Royal Bank of Scotland | Mortgage term plus 30 years. |
The lawyers that we work with handle Whitby lease extensions and help protect your position. A lease extension can be arranged to be completed to coincide with a change of ownership so the costs of the lease extension are paid for using part of the sale proceeds. You really do need expert legal advice in this difficult and technical area of law. The conveyancing solicitor we work with provide it.
Last Winter Charlie, started to get close to the 80-year mark with the lease on his ground floor apartment in Whitby. In buying his home two decades ago, the unexpired term was of little relevance. by good luck, he noticed he would soon be paying way over the odds for Extending the lease. Charlie extended the lease just under the wire last September. Charlie and the freeholder via the managing agents eventually settled on an amount of £5,500 . If he not met the deadline, the premium would have escalated by at least £950.
Last Spring we were e-mailed by Ms Shannon Allen , who moved into a studio flat in Whitby in November 2011. We are asked if we could estimate the price would be to prolong the lease by ninety years. Comparable residencies in Whitby with 100 year plus lease were worth £218,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £45 billed monthly. The lease elapsed in 2089. Considering the 63 years unexpired we approximated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £17,100 and £19,800 plus professional charges.
Last Autumn we were e-mailed by Dr Samuel Harris , who was assigned a lease of a one bedroom flat in Whitby in February 2009. The dilemma was if we could approximate the compensation to the landlord could be to prolong the lease by 90 years. Similar residencies in Whitby with a long lease were valued around £270,000. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £55 collected quarterly. The lease came to a finish on 9 September 2100. Having 74 years unexpired we calculated the premium to the landlord for the lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 exclusive of expenses.