Owning a flat usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a finite term of years. your lease will usually be granted for a prescribed period of time , ordinarily 99 or 125 years, although we have seen longer and shorter terms in Catford. Inevitably, the term of lease remaining shortens over time. This may slip by relatively unnoticed when the residence has to be sold or re-mortgaged. The fewer the years remaining the lower the value of the property and the more expensive it will be to procure a lease extension. Qualifying leaseholders in Catford have the legal entitlement to extend the lease for a further ninety years under statute. Do give due consideration before delaying your Catford lease extension. Holding off that expense now only increases the price you will ultimately incur for a lease extension
It is conventional wisdom that a property with over one hundred years remaining is worth approximately the equivalent as a freehold. Where an additional 90 years added to any lease with more than 30 years left, the residence will be equivalent in value to a freehold for decades to come.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| Accord Mortgages | 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. |
| Barnsley Building Society | 60 years from the date of the mortgage application subject to 35 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term. |
| 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. |
| TSB | Minimum of 70 years at mortgage commencement, with 30 years remaining at mortgage redemption. |
| Virgin | 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion. |
Retaining our service will provide you better control over the value of your Catford leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and marketable in relation to the lease length should you want to sell. The conveyancers that we work with have a wealth of experience of handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
Jack owned a studio flat in Catford on the market with a lease of just over sixty years outstanding. Jack on an informal basis contacted his landlord being a well known Manchester-based freehold company for a lease extension. The freeholder indicated a willingness to extend the lease to 125 years on the basis of an increased rent to £50 per annum. No ground rent would be due on a lease extension were Jack to invoke his statutory right. Jack procured expert legal guidance and was able to make an informed judgement and handle with the matter and sell the property.
Last Autumn we were contacted by Mr and Mrs. M Martínez , who owned a purpose-built apartment in Catford in May 1999. The dilemma was if we could estimate the premium would likely be for a 90 year lease extension. Comparative flats in Catford with a long lease were in the region of £173,800. The average amount of ground rent was £65 collected annually. The lease finished in 2079. Considering the 55 years outstanding we calculated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be between £31,400 and £36,200 plus expenses.
An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Catford premises is 44 Elmer Road in January 2013. The Tribunal dacied that amount to be paid by the Leaseholders for the Landlords freehold reversion was £12,951 as at the valuation date (20" September 2012).This matter was referred back to the Bromley County Court to deal with costs, fees and any other outstanding matters. This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired term as at the valuation date was 74.25 years.