Owning a flat usually means owning a lease of the property, this is a ‘time-limited’ interest becoming shorter every day. your lease will normally be granted for a set period of time , ordinarily 99 or 125 years, although we have seen longer and shorter terms in Wembley. Clearly, the period of lease remaining reduces as time goes by. This may pass by relatively unnoticed when the property needs to be sold or refinanced. The fewer the years remaining the less it is worth and the more it will cost to extend the lease. Qualifying leaseholders in Wembley have the legal entitlement to extend the lease for a further 90 years in accordance with statute. Please give due attention before delaying your Wembley lease extension. Holding off the cost now likely increases the price you will ultimately have to pay to extend your lease
It is conventional wisdom that a residential leasehold with more than 100 years unexpired lease term is worth roughly the equivalent as a freehold. Where an additional ninety years added to all but the shortest lease, the premises will be worth the same as a freehold for decades to come.
| 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. |
| National Westminster Bank | Mortgage term plus 30 years. For Shared Ownership, the remaining term of the lease must be at least 75 years plus the term of the mortgage at the outset of the mortgage. |
| Santander | 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 However, we will not accept a lease where on expiry of the mortgage: (i) less than 50 years remain and all or part of the loan is repaid on an interest-only basis: or (ii) less than 30 years remain and the loan is repaid on a capital and interest basis 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. |
| Virgin | 85 years at the time of completion. If it's less, we require it to be extended on or before completion. |
| Yorkshire 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. |
Retaining our service will provide you better control over the value of your Wembley leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and marketable in respect of lease length should you decide to sell. The conveyancers that we work with have a wealth of experience of handling many hundreds of lease extensions or freehold purchase transactions.
Blake was the the leasehold proprietor of a studio apartment in Wembley being marketed with a lease of a little over 61 years left. Blake on an informal basis approached his freeholder being a well known London-based freehold company for a lease extension. The freeholder was prepared to give an extension on non-statutory terms taking the lease to 125 years on the basis of a new rent at the outset set at £150 per annum and increase every 25 years thereafter. No ground rent would be due on a lease extension were Blake to invoke his statutory right. Blake procured expert legal guidance and secured satisfactory resolution without resorting to tribunal and sell the property.
In 2009 we were contacted by Dr John Sharif who, having took over the lease of a basement apartment in Wembley in April 2001. The dilemma was if we could approximate the premium could be for a ninety year lease extension. Identical flats in Wembley with a long lease were in the region of £275,000. The average ground rent payable was £65 billed yearly. The lease termination date was in 2094. Given that there were 68 years outstanding we calculated the premium to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £12,400 and £14,200 plus fees.
An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Wembley flat is Ground Floor Flat 79 London Road in September 2012. the Tribunal held that the premium payable for the lease extension should be £7,636 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 74 years.