Owning a apartment usually means owning a lease of the property, which has a finite term of years. The lease will normally be granted for a prescribed period of time , ordinarily 99 or 125 years, although we have seen longer and shorter terms in Twickenham. Inevitably, the length of lease remaining reduces as time goes by. This is often overlooked and only raises itself as an issue when the property has to be sold or re-mortgaged. The fewer the years remaining the less it is worth and the more it will cost to extend the lease. Eligible leaseholders in Twickenham have the legal entitlement to extend the lease for a further ninety years under Leasehold Reform legislation. Do give careful attention before putting off your Twickenham lease extension. Putting off that expense now likely increases the price you will ultimately incur for a lease extension
It is generally accepted that a residential leasehold with more than one hundred years unexpired lease term is worth approximately the same as a freehold. Where an additional ninety years added to all but the shortest lease, the residence will be equivalent in value to a freehold for many years ahead.
| Lender | Requirement |
|---|---|
| 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. |
| Halifax | Minimum 70 years from the date of the mortgage. |
| Leeds Building Society | 85 years remaining from the start 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. |
| Skipton Building Society | 85 years from the date of completion of the mortgage For Buy to Let cases: - lettings must not breach any of the lessee’s covenants; and - consent of the lessor to lettings must be obtained if necessary |
Irrespective of whether you are a tenant or a landlord in Twickenham,the lease extension lawyers that we work with will always be prepared to discuss any residential leasehold matters and offer you the benefit of their in-depth market knowledge and the close ties they enjoy with Twickenham valuers.
Trailing unsuccessful discussions with the landlord of her purpose-built apartment in Twickenham, Amy started the lease extension process as the 80 year threshold was quickly coming. The legal work completed in June 2010. The landlord’s costs were restricted to less than 500 GBP.
Dr N Miller took over the lease of a garden flat in Twickenham in September 2004. The question was if we could estimate the price would be to prolong the lease by a further 90 years. Comparable homes in Twickenham with an extended lease were valued about £206,200. The average ground rent payable was £55 invoiced yearly. The lease concluded in 2081. Taking into account 56 years unexpired we approximated the premium to the freeholder for the lease extension to be between £31,400 and £36,200 exclusive of professional charges.
An example of a Lease Extension case for a Twickenham premises is Ground Floor Flat 91 Bath Road in May 2009. in a case where the freeholder could not be traced, the Brentford County Court ordered that the Lease be surrendered in return for the grant of a new lease of the Premises at a premium determined by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal concluded that the price payable by the Applicant for the new lease of the premises be £15,900 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 60.45 years.