Stop! Your Lease Extension in Werrington Could Be FREE

Many leaseholders in Werrington are unaware that their original lawyer had a duty to warn them about future mortgageability and saleability issues. Before you pay thousands to your freeholder, let us audit your purchase history. You might have a claim that pays for your lease extension in full

If you are facing a significant premium because your lease in Werrington 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 Werrington lease extension


Main reasons to start your Werrington lease extension today:

A Werrington leasehold property depreciates with the years remaining on the lease.

Werrington leases on residential deteriorating in value. if your lease has in the region of 90 years remaining, you should start thinking about a lease extension. 80 years is a significant number: when the unexpired term of a lease dips below this level then you start incurring an additional element called marriage value. Leasehold owners in Werrington will usually qualify for a lease extension; however a solicitor will confirm your eligibility. In some circumstances you may not qualify. There are prescribed deadlines and steps to comply with once the process has started so it’s best to be guided by a conveyancing solicitor during the process.

Werrington property with a lease extension is almost the same value as a freehold

It is conventional wisdom that a property with over one hundred years unexpired lease term is worth approximately the equivalent as a freehold. Where an further ninety years added to any lease with more than 30 years left, the residence will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years in the future.

Lending institutions may not lend with a short lease

Most mortgage lenders have constrained their lending criteria in recent years and borrowers are finding it increasingly difficult to raise finance or re-mortgage against flats with shorter lease terms, particularly below 75 years as they are considered to be unacceptable for lending purposes.

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.
Bank of Scotland Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
Halifax Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage.
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.

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.
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.

Get in touch with one of our Werrington lease extension solicitors or enfranchisement solicitors

Engaging our service gives you increased control over the value of your Werrington leasehold, as your property will be more valuable and saleable in terms of 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.

Werrington Lease Extension Example Cases:

Finley, Werrington, Cambridgeshire

In 2014 Finley, came seriously near to the 80-year mark with the lease on his ground floor flat in Werrington. In buying his flat two decades ago, the unexpired term was of no concern. Fortunately, he became aware that he would soon be paying way over the odds for Extending the lease. Finley was able to extend his lease just under the wire in August. Finley and the freeholder eventually settled on an amount of £6,000 . If the lease had fallen lower than 80 years, the price would have escalated by a minimum £850.

Werrington case:

In 2011 we were contacted by Ms L Wilson who, having was assigned a lease of a first floor flat in Werrington in June 2003. The question was if we could estimate the price would be to extend the lease by an additional years. Identical flats in Werrington with a long lease were in the region of £200,000. The mid-range amount of ground rent was £50 invoiced monthly. The lease ended on 26 February 2104. Given that there were 78 years remaining we calculated the compensation to the landlord for the lease extension to be between £8,600 and £9,800 exclusive of professional charges.

Werrington case:

Last Spring we were called by Mr Aaron Howard , who completed a ground floor flat in Werrington in August 1997. The question was if we could estimate the compensation to the landlord would be for a 90 year lease extension. Similar homes in Werrington with 100 year plus lease were in the region of £267,600. The average amount of ground rent was £65 collected annually. The lease finished in 2093. Taking into account 67 years left we approximated the premium to the landlord for the lease extension to be within £14,300 and £16,400 exclusive of legals.