Owning a apartment usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a finite term of years. The lease will ordinarily be granted for a prescribed period of time , usually 99 or 125 years, although we have seen longer and shorter terms in Whitby. Clearly, the term of lease left shortens as time goes by. This may slip by relatively unnoticed when the flat or house has to be disposed of or refinanced. The shorter the lease the lower the value of the property and the more expensive it will be to extend the lease. Qualifying long lease owners in Whitby have the right to extend the lease for a further ninety years under legislation. You should give careful deliberation before delaying your Whitby lease extension. Holding off the cost now simply increases the price you will ultimately incur to extend your lease
Leasehold properties in Whitby with over one hundred 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 freehold unless savings on ground rent and service charges merit it.
| 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. |
| Halifax | 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 30 years plus the term of the mortgage at the outset of the mortgage. |
| Royal Bank of Scotland | Mortgage term plus 30 years. |
| Yorkshire 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. |
Using our service gives you increased control over the value of your Whitby leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and saleable in relation to the 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.
Twenty four months ago Archie, started to get near to the 80-year threshold with the lease on his first floor apartment in Whitby. Having bought his property 19 years previously, the length of the lease was of little bearing. Thankfully, he noticed he needed to take steps soon on Extending the lease. Archie arranged for a lease extension at the eleventh hour in July. Archie and the landlord eventually settled on a premium of £5,500 . If he had missed the deadline, the figure would have gone up by at least £925.
In 2011 we were phoned by Dr Harrison Scott who, having was assigned a lease of a purpose-built apartment in Whitby in October 2006. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) price would be to extend the lease by an additional years. Comparable flats in Whitby with a long lease were valued around £280,000. The average amount of ground rent was £55 invoiced monthly. The lease ended in 2103. Considering the 77 years left we calculated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £13,300 and £15,400 not including professional charges.
In 2010 we were e-mailed by Dr Nathan Dupont who, having purchased a purpose-built flat in Whitby in October 1999. The question was if we could estimate the compensation to the landlord would be for a ninety year extension to my lease. Comparative homes in Whitby with an extended lease were in the region of £183,600. The average ground rent payable was £65 billed quarterly. The lease ran out in 2083. Given that there were 57 years as a residual term we calculated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £28,500 and £33,000 exclusive of fees.