Lease Extension

jonn81

Hi there, I own a maisonette which has circa 70 years left on the lease. There are 28 maisonettes altogether and we all purchased the freehold in 2006. Is it reasonable/feasible, if I wish to extend my lease, could I negotiate a fee of £0 with the limited company who own the freehold (of which I am a director) and just pay any legal fees?

typeractive

If you purcahsed the freehold, does this not mean that you no longer have a lease? Or do you still have a lease under the limited company you are not a director of?

Entertainer

If all the other directors agree then I don't see why not.

jonn81

All 28 owners formed a limited company and purchased the freehold. However, because the maisonettes are in blocks of 4, the leases still have to exist. We are our own landlords if that makes sense and as such, if a lease expires, our company would own the property.

As we are leased to ourselves, I'm wondering if we can extend the leases for nothing without bringing in the 'marriage value' fee etc, and if so, how do I/we go about it?

typeractive

Ah right, I get ya. Yes, surely if everyone else is in favour then it should be possible. It would surely be desireable to everyone, as if anyone is planning to sell their flat then they would be better off in terms of atttraction.

I'd contact a solicitor - or even more so, this place first:Lease Advice
They are a government setup place to deal with all leasehold advice. I'm positive they would be able to share some knowledge. Most of all, in Money Saving Ethic - it's also free!

I contacted them when wanting to buy a flat. The vendor said it would cost around £300 to extend the lease back upto 99 years. Upon contacting them with the correct infor, they estimated £5,400 ish. I soon knocked that flat on the head.

One thing to expect is that they can take quite a while to get back in touch with you regarding your enquiry (around 5 weeks for me).

Good luck!

GDB2222

jonn81 wrote: »

Hi there, I own a maisonette which has circa 70 years left on the lease. There are 28 maisonettes altogether and we all purchased the freehold in 2006. Is it reasonable/feasible, if I wish to extend my lease, could I negotiate a fee of £0 with the limited company who own the freehold (of which I am a director) and just pay any legal fees?

I'm in the same position. I've been quoted £500 for legal fees and nothing for the lease extension. The £500 is quite a lot but the solicitor is well-entrenched with our company, so I have no choice.

jonn81

Thanks everyone.

I'd much rather pay £500 than the £5000+ it would normally cost!

Norroy

This will depend very much on how long the other flat's leases are, and how clued up the other flat owners are.

In theory if all the other leases are long (80yrs+, ie. no marriage value), then the freehold company could charge you the full market value for a lease extension. This figure will depend on the value of the property and ground rent payable etc.

GDB2222

jonn81 wrote: »

Thanks everyone.

I'd much rather pay £500 than the £5000+ it would normally cost!

Well, we each paid well over £5k to buy the freehold. This is just for a new lease.