Stop! Your Lease Extension in Deeside Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Deeside 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 Deeside 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 Deeside lease extension


Why you should commence your Deeside lease extension today:

Increase your lease and increase your Deeside property value

Deeside leases on domestic properties are gradually losing value. if your lease has approximately ninety years left, you should start considering the need for a lease extension. If lease term is under eighty years, you will then have to pay half of the property's 'marriage value' on top of the usual cost of the lease extension to the landlord. Marriage value is the amount of extra value that a lease extension will add to the property. Leasehold owners in Deeside will usually qualify for a lease extension; however a solicitor should be able check if you qualify. In some situations you may not be entitled. There are also strict deadlines and formalities to follow once the process is initiated so it’s sensible to be guided by a conveyancing solicitor during the process.

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

Leasehold properties in Deeside with over one hundred years remaining 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 purchasing the freehold unless savings on ground rent and service charges merit it.

Banks and Building Societies may not finance a property on a short lease

Whether or not the lease is be regarded as a short lease varies by mortgage company, yet lending institutions start to become concerned at around 75 years. This will cause difficulties when you need to sell or refinance your property as it will be practically unmortgageable. You may not have an imminent plan to sell but when you do your purchaser will need to hold off for a couple of years before being able to exercise the right to a a lease extension.

Lender Requirement
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.
Leeds Building Society 85 years remaining from the start 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.
Virgin 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion.

Get in touch with one of our Deeside lease extension solicitors or enfranchisement solicitors

Regardless of whether you are a tenant or a freeholder in Deeside,the lease extension solicitors that we work with will always be willing to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their in-depth market knowledge and the close ties they enjoy with Deeside valuers.

Deeside Lease Extension Example Cases:

Sophie, Deeside, Flintshire,

In the wake of eight months of unsuccessful discussions with the freeholder of her studio apartment in Deeside, Sophie started the lease extension process as the eighty year threshold was fast advancing. The legal work was concluded in August 2005. The landlord’s charges were restricted to approximately 650 GBP.

Deeside case:

In 2009 we were called by Ms Imogen Morel who, having bought a garden apartment in Deeside in November 2006. We are asked if we could estimate the premium could be to extend the lease by ninety years. Similar properties in Deeside with 100 year plus lease were worth £295,000. The average ground rent payable was £45 invoiced per annum. The lease ended in 2101. Considering the 75 years as a residual term we approximated the premium to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £8,600 and £9,800 plus expenses.

Deeside case:

Dr Francesca Kelly moved into a first floor apartment in Deeside in April 1999. The question was if we could estimate the price could be for a 90 year lease extension. Identical residencies in Deeside with 100 year plus lease were valued around £250,400. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £65 invoiced yearly. The lease expiry date was in 2090. Considering the 64 years left we approximated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be within £19,000 and £22,000 not including professional charges.