Why you should commence your Balham lease extension

Main reasons to commence your Balham lease extension today:

A Balham leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

Balham leases on domestic properties are gradually losing value. Where your lease has about ninety years unexpired, you should start thinking about a lease extension. It is important to recognise that it is that it is financially advisable for your lease extension to take place before the term of the current lease dips lower than 80 years - otherwise a higher amount will be due. Flat owners in Balham will mostly be legally entitled to a lease extension; however a solicitor will confirm if you qualify. In some circumstances you may not be entitled. There are prescribed timetables and procedures to comply with once the process has commenced so it’s prudent to be guided by a lawyer during the process.

Balham property with a lease extension has roughly the same value as a freehold

Leasehold residencies in Balham with over 100 years outstanding on the lease are sometimes regarded as a ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease is worth the same as a freehold interest in your premises. In such situations there is often little to be gained by buying the reversionary interest unless savings on ground rent and maintenance charges merit it.

Mortgage lenders will not loan monies on a short lease

The propensity since the credit crunch has been for mortgage companies to tighten lending requirements generally - this has extended to the property over which the mortgage is to be charged. This has resulted in the minimum number of years remaining under the lease required by banks has increased. Historically lenders would grant a mortgage on a lease with 25 years plus the term of the loan - typically fifty year leases but those requirements have been chipped away by the requirement for longer and longer leases - many now have a minimum term of 75 years as a prerequisite.

What makes us experts in Balham lease extensions?

The lawyers that we work with undertake Balham 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 lawyer we work with provide it.

Balham Lease Extension Example Cases:

Rebecca, Balham, South West London,

Subsequent to protracted correspondence with the landlord of her basement apartment in Balham, Rebecca initiated the lease extension process just as the lease was coming close to the critical eighty-year mark. The legal work was finalised in October 2011. The landlord’s costs were kept to an absolute minimum.

Balham case:

Mr A Moore was assigned a lease of a basement apartment in Balham in January 2012. The dilemma was if we could approximate the compensation to the landlord would likely be to prolong the lease by an additional years. Similar homes in Balham with a long lease were worth £265,000. The average ground rent payable was £55 collected quarterly. The lease expired in 2100. Given that there were 74 years unexpired we approximated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be within £9,500 and £11,000 plus legals.