Why you should start your Ham lease extension

Top reasons for lease extension now:

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

Owning a apartment usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a set term of years. This lease will normally be granted for a fixed period of time , ordinarily 99 or 125 years, although we have seen longer and shorter terms in Ham. Clearly, the length of lease left shortens as time goes by. This is often overlooked and only raises itself as an issue when the flat or house has to be sold or refinanced. The fewer the years remaining the less it is worth and the more expensive it will be to extend the lease. Eligible leaseholders in Ham have the right to extend the lease for a further 90 years under the 1993 Leasehold Reform Act. Do give due attention before putting off your Ham lease extension. Holding off the cost now only increases the price you will eventually have to pay to extend your lease

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

Leasehold properties in Ham with over 100 years remaining on the lease are often referred to as ‘virtual freehold’. This is where the lease value the same as a freehold interest in your home. In such circumstances there is often little upside in buying the freehold unless savings on ground rent and service charges justify it.

Lending institutions may not lend with a short lease

Banks and Building Societies have specific criteria when lending funds charged on leasehold property. Some will simply refrain from lending at all once an unexpired lease term drops lower than a specified unexpired lease term. Many Banks and Building Societies will not consider property with a remaining term of less than 75 years as adequate security. In addition to impacting your ability to sell, it is also relevant where you are intending to remortgage your Ham home.

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

Regardless of whether you are a tenant or a freeholder in Ham,the lease extension experts that we work with will always be willing to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their experience and the close ties they enjoy with Ham valuers.

Ham Lease Extension Case Studies:

Benjamin, Ham, Surrey,

Benjamin was the the leasehold owner of a studio flat in Ham being sold with a lease of just over sixty years remaining. Benjamin informally approached his freeholder being a well known Bristol-based freehold company and enquired on a premium to extend the lease. The freeholder indicated a willingness to grant an extension taking the lease to 125 years subject to a new rent to start with set at £100 per annum and increase every 25 years thereafter. No ground rent would be due on a lease extension were Benjamin to invoke his statutory right. Benjamin procured expert advice and secured satisfactory deal informally and sell the property.

Ham case:

Mr and Mrs. R Thomas moved into a studio apartment in Ham in April 2006. We are asked if we could shed any light on how much (approximately) premium would be to prolong the lease by a further 90 years. Similar properties in Ham with 100 year plus lease were in the region of £174,200. The average ground rent payable was £55 collected per annum. The lease terminated on 13 January 2076. Considering the 51 years left we estimated the premium to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £31,400 and £36,200 not including legals.