Mersea Island Lease Extension - Free Consultation

Before you progress with your lease extension in Mersea Island
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.

Main reasons to commence your Mersea Island lease extension


Main reasons to commence your Mersea Island lease extension today:

A Mersea Island lease depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

Mersea Island leases on residential properties are gradually losing value. if your lease has in the region of 90 years unexpired, you should start thinking about a lease extension. If lease term is less than eighty years, you will then have to pay 50% of the property's 'marriage value' in addition to the standard cost of the lease extension to the landlord. Marriage value is the amount of additional value that a lease extension will add to the property. Flat owners in Mersea Island will usually qualify for a lease extension; however a solicitor should be able confirm if you qualify. In certain situations you may not be entitled. There are also strict deadlines and steps to follow once the process has started so it’s sensible to be guided by a conveyancing solicitor during the process.

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

It is generally accepted that a property with in excess of 100 years unexpired lease term is worth roughly the equivalent as a freehold. Where an further ninety years added to any lease with more than 45 years unexpired, the residence will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years ahead.

Lenders may decide not to loan monies with a short lease

Most banks have narrowed their lending criteria in the last ten years and borrowers are finding it increasingly difficult to raise funding or re-mortgage against property with shorter lease terms, particularly below 75 years as they are regarded as deficient for lending purposes.

Lender Requirement
Bank of Scotland Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
Birmingham Midshires Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
Skipton Building Society 85 years from the date of completion of the mortgage

For Buy to Let cases:
- lettings must not breach any of the lessee’s covenants; and
- consent of the lessor to lettings must be obtained if necessary
The Mortgage Works Minimum unexpired lease term is 70 years with 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term.
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

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 70 years
- 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 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 70 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 1.0% 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
- 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
- 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 reviewed and altered on any review basis or methodology

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 1.0% 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 the 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.
Royal Bank of Scotland Mortgage term plus 30 years.

Why use us for your lease extension in Mersea Island?

The conveyancers that we work with procure Mersea Island 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 conveyancer we work with provide it.

Mersea Island Lease Extension Example Cases:

Emma, Mersea Island, Essex,

Off the back of protracted correspondence with the landlord of her leasehold flat in Mersea Island, Emma initiated the lease extension process as the 80 year mark was quickly approaching. The transaction was finalised in January 2009. The freeholder’s charges were negotiated to approximately 650 pounds.

Mersea Island case:

Ms J Campbell moved into a one bedroom flat in Mersea Island in November 2009. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (approximately) premium could be for a 90 year extension to my lease. Comparable premises in Mersea Island with an extended lease were worth £285,000. The average ground rent payable was £55 collected yearly. The lease expired on 2 August 2105. Taking into account 80 years as a residual term we estimated the premium to the landlord to extend the lease to be between £12,400 and £14,200 plus legals.

Mersea Island case:

Dr Chloe Bell was assigned a lease of a studio flat in Mersea Island in October 2010. The question was if we could approximate the price would be to extend the lease by a further 90 years. Comparable properties in Mersea Island with 100 year plus lease were worth £200,800. The average ground rent payable was £65 invoiced per annum. The lease expired in 2085. Having 60 years outstanding we approximated the compensation to the landlord to extend the lease to be between £20,900 and £24,200 exclusive of fees.