Ebbw Vale Lease Extension - Free Consultation

Before you progress with your lease extension in Ebbw Vale
Get a quote from one of our lease extension experts with over 20 years experience.

Let them guide you for FREE on the various options available to you.

It may end up saving you thousands.

Top reasons for Ebbw Vale lease extension


Top reasons for lease extension now:

A Ebbw Vale lease depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

Ebbw Vale leases on residential properties are gradually losing value. The shorter the remaining lease term becomes, the less it is worth – and accordingly any extension of the lease becomes more expensive. The majority of owners of residential leasehold property in Ebbw Vale enjoy rights under legislation to extend the terms of their leases. If you are a leasehold owner in Ebbw Vale you really ought to check if your lease has between 70 and 90 years remaining. There are good reasons why a Ebbw Vale leaseholder 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 conventional wisdom that a property with more than one hundred years unexpired lease term is worth approximately the same as a freehold. Where an further ninety years added to any lease with more than 30 years unexpired, the property will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years in the future.

Lenders may not finance a property with a short lease

The propensity since over the last decade has been for mortgage companies to tighten lending requirements across the board - this has extended to the property over which the home loan is to be charged. This has meant the unexpired lease term required by mortgage companies has increased. In the past mortgage companies were content with twenty years plus the term of the loan - routinely fifty year leases but those requirements have been chipped away by the requirement for longer and longer leases - many use a minimum term of 75 years as standard.

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.
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.
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.
Virgin 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion.

What makes us experts in Ebbw Vale lease extensions?

Irrespective of whether you are a tenant or a landlord in Ebbw Vale,the lease extension experts that we work with will always be prepared to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their in-depth market knowledge and the close ties they enjoy with Ebbw Vale valuers.

Ebbw Vale Lease Extension Case Summaries:

Eliot, Ebbw Vale, Abertillery

Last Spring Eliot, started to get near to the 80-year threshold with the lease on his leasehold flat in Ebbw Vale. In buying his property twenty years ago, the unexpired term was of little significance. As luck would have it, he became aware that he would soon be paying way over the odds for a lease extension. Eliot extended the lease at the eleventh hour in May. Eliot and the landlord ultimately agreed on a premium of £5,000 . If he not met the deadline, the amount would have increased by at least £1,075.

Ebbw Vale case:

In 2014 we were phoned by Mr Michael Roux who, having completed a first floor apartment in Ebbw Vale in February 2005. The dilemma was if we could estimate the premium could be for a ninety year extension to my lease. Comparative homes in Ebbw Vale with a long lease were worth £210,600. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £45 collected yearly. The lease ended in 2086. Given that there were 62 years left we estimated the compensation to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £18,100 and £20,800 exclusive of expenses.

Ebbw Vale case:

Last month we were approach by Dr O Patel , who moved into a ground floor apartment in Ebbw Vale in May 1999. The dilemma was if we could approximate the price would be to extend the lease by ninety years. Comparative residencies in Ebbw Vale with 100 year plus lease were valued around £265,000. The average amount of ground rent was £50 collected annually. The lease came to a finish on 11 October 2097. Having 73 years remaining we calculated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 not including fees.