Stop! Your Lease Extension in Aberporth Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Aberporth are unaware that their original lawyer had a duty to warn them about future mortgageability and saleability issues. Before you pay thousands to your freeholder, let us audit your purchase history. You might have a claim that pays for your lease extension in full

If you are facing a significant premium because your lease in Aberporth has dropped toward the 80-year mark, your previous lawyer may be at fault. Our panel of experts specialise in recovering lease extension costs from negligent firms who failed to protect your investment.

Top reasons for Aberporth lease extension


Why you should start your Aberporth lease extension today:

Increase your lease and increase your Aberporth property value

Aberporth leases on residential properties are gradually diminishing in value. The shorter the remaining lease term becomes, the less it is worth – and as a result any extension of your lease gets more expensive. The majority of owners of residential leasehold property in Aberporth enjoy rights under legislation to extend the terms of their leases. If you are a leasehold owner in Aberporth you would be well advised to investigate if your lease has between seventy and 90 years left. There are good reasons why a Aberporth flat owner with a lease having around 80 years remaining should take action to ensure that a lease extension is effected without delay

An extended lease is almost the same value as a freehold

It is generally considered that a property with more than 100 years remaining is worth roughly the same as a freehold. Where an further ninety years added to any lease with more than 45 years unexpired, the property will be worth the same as a freehold for decades to come.

Lenders will not lend on a short lease

The trend since over the last decade has been for lenders to tighten lending requirements across the board - this has extended to the types of security over which the home loan is to be charged. This has resulted in the unexpired lease term required by lenders has increased. In the past mortgage companies were content with 25 years plus the term of the loan - typically 50 year leases but those requirements have been chipped away by the requirement for lengthy leases - many now have a minimum term of 75 years as a prerequisite.

Lender Requirement
Bank of Scotland Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
Barnsley Building Society 60 years from the date of the mortgage application subject to 35 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term.
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.
National Westminster Bank Mortgage term plus 30 years.

For Shared Ownership, the remaining term of the lease must be at least 75 years plus the term of the mortgage at the outset of the mortgage.
Nationwide Building Society - Our minimum unexpired lease term is 55 years, except where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat, in which case our minimum unexpired term is 90 years.
- There must be at least 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term (regardless of the length of lease at the start).

Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:

Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
- Where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat and the unexpired lease term on the offer is 90 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 90 years.

New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer

Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.

SECOND HAND PROPERTIES

Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 55 years
- Unexpired lease term less than 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period is less than or equal to 5 years

Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 55 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial, etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary

Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years (Minimum 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat)
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI

NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)

Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined)
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house (does not apply to Shared Ownership)
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis

Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary

Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn Ground Rent (Annual Rent) charges

For the avoidance of doubt, any New Build properties completed but not sold pre-30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the Lease conforms to the above guidance.

* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years.

Lease Extensions

We require all Lease Extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to Issuing Office.

Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.

What makes us experts in Aberporth lease extensions?

Engaging our service gives you better control over the value of your Aberporth leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and saleable in relation to the lease length should you decide to sell. The lawyers that we work with have a wealth of experience of handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.

Aberporth Lease Extension Example Cases:

Nicole, Aberporth, Aberaeron,

After unsuccessful correspondence with the freeholder of her one bedroom flat in Aberporth, Nicole started the lease extension process just as her lease was coming close to the critical 80-year mark. The transaction was finalised in January 2014. The freeholder’s charges were kept to an absolute minimum.

Aberporth case:

Last Christmas we were phoned by Mr and Mrs. T Thompson , who owned a purpose-built flat in Aberporth in January 2002. The dilemma was if we could estimate the premium would be to prolong the lease by 90 years. Identical residencies in Aberporth with a long lease were valued about £225,800. The average ground rent payable was £60 invoiced monthly. The lease finished in 2086. Taking into account 60 years unexpired we estimated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be between £25,700 and £29,600 exclusive of costs.

Aberporth case:

Dr Hunter Allen took over the lease of a studio flat in Aberporth in October 2004. We are asked if we could estimate the compensation to the landlord could be for a 90 year extension to my lease. Comparable flats in Aberporth with an extended lease were in the region of £210,000. The average amount of ground rent was £50 collected quarterly. The lease came to a finish on 1 May 2106. Given that there were 80 years unexpired we approximated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 plus costs.