If you are facing a significant premium because your lease in Slough 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.
Why you should commence your Slough lease extension today:
Increase your lease and increase your Slough property value
Slough leases on residential properties are gradually losing value. The shorter the remaining lease term becomes, the less it is worth – and as a result any extension of your lease gets more expensive. Legislation has been in place for sometime now which permits qualifying Slough residential leaseholders to extend the terms of long leases. If you are a leasehold owner in Slough you really ought to investigate if your lease has between seventy and ninety years left. In particular once the remaining lease term slips under 80 years, the cost of any lease extension sharply increases as an element of the premium you pay is what is known as a marriage value
An extended lease has roughly the same value as a freehold
It is conventional wisdom that a property with in excess of one hundred years remaining is worth approximately the same as a freehold. Where an further ninety years added to any lease with more than 30 years remaining, the property will be worth the same as a freehold for decades to come.
Lending institutions may decide not to finance a property on a short lease
Lending institutions have specific criteria when lending monies charged on leasehold property. Many will simply not lend at all once an unexpired lease term drops under a specified unexpired lease term. Many Banks and Building Societies will not regard property with a remaining below 75 years as adequate security. As well as impacting your ability to sell, it is also relevant if you are seeking to remortgage your Slough home.
| Lender |
Requirement
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|---|
| Leeds Building Society |
85 years remaining from the start of the mortgage.
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| National Westminster Bank |
Mortgage term plus 30 years.
For Shared Ownership, the remaining term of the lease must be at least 30 years plus the term of the mortgage at the outset of the mortgage.
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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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| 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 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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| Virgin |
85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion.
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What makes us experts in Slough lease extensions?
Engaging our service will provide you better control over the value of your Slough leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and marketable in relation to the lease length should you decide to sell.
The lawyers that we work with have a wealth of experience of handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
Slough Lease Extension Case Studies:
Aarav, Slough, Berkshire,
Aarav was the the leasehold owner of a studio apartment in Slough being sold with a lease of a little over 61 years unexpired. Aarav on an informal basis contacted his landlord a well known London-based freehold company and enquired on a premium to extend the lease. The landlord indicated a willingness to grant an extension taking the lease to 125 years on the basis of a new rent initially set at £150 per annum and increase every twenty five years thereafter. Ordinarily, ground rent would not be due on a lease extension were Aarav to invoke his statutory right. Aarav obtained expert legal guidance and was able to make an informed judgement and deal with the matter and sell the flat.
Slough case:
Dr Katherine Khan acquired a first floor flat in Slough in May 1998. The dilemma was if we could estimate the compensation to the landlord would be to extend the lease by a further 90 years. Comparable properties in Slough with a long lease were in the region of £225,800. The mid-range ground rent payable was £60 billed quarterly. The lease finished on 16 April 2086. Considering the 60 years as a residual term we calculated the premium to the freeholder to extend the lease to be between £23,800 and £27,400 not including expenses.
Slough case:
Ms Jessica Díaz acquired a newly refurbished apartment in Slough in January 1995. The dilemma was if we could shed any light on how much (roughly) compensation to the landlord would likely be to extend the lease by an additional years. Similar homes in Slough with 100 year plus lease were valued around £210,000. The average amount of ground rent was £50 billed monthly. The lease elapsed on 7 October 2106. Given that there were 80 years outstanding we estimated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 plus expenses.