Unfortunately that a Belsize Park residential lease is a wasting asset. As the lease term reduces so does the value of the property. The extent of this is taken for granted in the first few years due to the depreciation being disguised by increases in the Belsize Park property prices.Once your lease nears 85ish years, you should start thinking about a lease extension. If lease term slips under 80 years, you will then be required to pay 50% of the property's 'marriage value' in addition to the usual cost of the lease extension to the landlord. Marriage value is the amount of additional value that a lease extension will add the property Most leasehold owners in Belsize Park will be able to extend under the legislation; however a conveyancing solicitor will be able to clarify if you are eligibility. In some cases you may not qualify. There are also strict deadlines and procedures to follow once the process has commenced and you will need to be guided by your conveyancing solicitor throughout the process.
Leasehold premises in Belsize Park with in excess of one hundred years unexpired on the lease are often regarded as a ‘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 upside in purchasing the freehold unless savings on ground rent and service charges merit it.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Barclays plc | Leases with less than 70 years at the commencement of the mortgage should be declined (see exception below). Leases with greater than 70 years but fewer than 85 years remaining must be referred to issuing office. Leases with fewer than 70 years should only be referred to the issuing office where the following scenario applies, as discretion may be applied subject to bank approval: • Property is located in any of the following prestigious developments: Cadogan, Crown, Grosvenor, Howard de Walden, Portman or Wellcome Trust Estates in Central London AND • The value of the property subject to the short remaining term is £500,000 or more AND • The loan to value does not exceed 90% for purchases, 90% like for like re-mortgages, 80% for re-mortgages with any element of capital raising and 80% for existing Barclays mortgage borrowers applying for additional borrowing; |
| 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. |
| Lloyds TSB Scotland | 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 also be not less than 75 years at the outset 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. |
Irrespective of whether you are a tenant or a landlord in Belsize Park,the lease extension solicitors that we work with will always be happy to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their experience and the close ties they enjoy with Belsize Park valuers.
In the wake of eight months of unsuccessful discussions with the landlord of her first floor flat in Belsize Park, Poppy started the lease extension process as the 80 year deadline was fast coming. The legal work was finalised in April 2006. The freeholder’s fees were kept to an absolute minimum.
Dr A Hall owned a newly refurbished apartment in Belsize Park in March 2009. We are asked if we could estimate the compensation to the landlord could be for a 90 year extension to my lease. Identical residencies in Belsize Park with an extended lease were worth £275,000. The average ground rent payable was £65 collected yearly. The lease ended on 21 June 2093. Considering the 68 years left we calculated the premium to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £13,300 and £15,400 not including legals.
An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Belsize Park residence is First Floor Flat 20 Fitzjohns Avenue in July 2014. the Tribunal decided that the premiums to be paid for new leases in respect of the Raised Ground Floor Flat and the First Floor Flat were to be calculated as: Raised Ground Floor: £765,175.14 First Floor: £601,617.77 This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 16.83 and 16.43.