If you are facing a significant premium because your lease in Saffron Walden 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.
Main reasons to start your Saffron Walden lease extension today:
A Saffron Walden leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.
The nearer a residential lease in Saffron Walden nears to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the value of the property. If the residual term has, over one hundred years to run then this decrease may be negligible that being said there will become a stage when a lease has under than eighty years remaining as part of the premium you will incur is what is termed as a marriage value. This could increase sharply the cost. It is the main logic behind why you should consider extending without delay. Many flat owners in Saffron Walden will meet the qualifying criteria; however a lawyer can confirm whether you are eligible for a lease extension. In limited situations you may not qualify, the most frequent reason being that you have not been the owner of the property for two years.
An extended lease has roughly the same value as a freehold
Leasehold residencies in Saffron Walden with more than 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 home. In such situations there is often little upside in buying the freehold unless savings on ground rent and maintenance charges merit it.
Mortgage lenders will not loan monies with a short lease
Banks and Building Societies are less likely to give a loan offer on a domestic property in Saffron Walden with a short lease. Many lenders simply refuse to lend on leases with less than 75 years left.
| Lender |
Requirement
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| Bank of Scotland |
Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
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| 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.
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| Leeds Building Society |
85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage.
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| 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 a proposed Lease Extension does not meet these requirements, however you feel that this is in the best interest for our mutual client, please refer all details to the Issuing Office for us to consider.
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.
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| Santander |
If the property is leasehold, the remaining unexpired lease term at the end of the new mortgage term must be at least 50 years where any part of the mortgage is on Interest Only and 30 years if all loan parts are on Capital Repayment and Interest. 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.
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.
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What makes us experts in Saffron Walden lease extensions?
The lawyers that we work with procure Saffron Walden 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.
Saffron Walden Lease Extension Example Cases:
Isaac, Saffron Walden, Essex
In 2014 Isaac, came very close to the eighty-year threshold with the lease on his two bedroom flat in Saffron Walden. Having purchased his flat two decades ago, the length of the lease was of minimal bearing. by good luck, he noticed he would imminently be paying an escalated premium for a lease extension. Isaac was able to extend his lease just under the wire last July. Isaac and the freeholder via the managing agents eventually agreed on an amount of £5,000 . If the lease had slid lower than eighty years, the premium would have escalated by at least £1,025.
Saffron Walden case:
Last year we were e-mailed by Mr and Mrs. C Parker , who
bought a basement flat in Saffron Walden in August 1998. We are asked if we could estimate the compensation to the landlord would be for a ninety year lease extension. Identical premises in Saffron Walden with 100 year plus lease were in the region of £265,000. The mid-range ground rent payable was £50 billed yearly. The lease expired on 1 October 2100. Taking into account 74 years outstanding we approximated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 exclusive of professional charges.
Saffron Walden case:
In 2009 we were approached by Mr Tyler André who, having was assigned a lease of a one bedroom flat in Saffron Walden in May 2011. The dilemma was if we could estimate the compensation to the landlord could be for a ninety year lease extension. Comparative premises in Saffron Walden with an extended lease were worth £166,400. The mid-range ground rent payable was £60 invoiced monthly. The lease ended on 21 July 2080. Given that there were 54 years as a residual term we calculated the compensation to the freeholder to extend the lease to be between £32,300 and £37,400 plus legals.