How much is to extend the lease?

amalis

Hi,

anyone have a roguh idea how much it coast to extend the lease in London? We found a leashold flat where 83 years left and seller told she has no idea how much it coast to prolong the lease. EA also not giving any useful information. I am FTB and would liek to have at least an idea which amount can i expect.
Please help!

sleepyj

I can't tell you an exact value but given that your lease is over 80 years and attracts no "marriage value" I would estimate between anywhere between £500-£1000

Make sure you extend this now, in a few years it will cost you several thousand more to extend

cattie

Extending a lease of over 80yrs duration is cheaper to extend than one of less than 80yrs.

The ea will have no idea of how much a lease costs to extend & the seller will have no idea unless she starts the process for lease extension, which will involve her in financial outlay for the valuer, plus freeholder's legal charges on top of lease extension costs & her own legal costs.

See here for all info regarding owning leasehold property & if you search the site you'll find a table which will give you the rough likely cost of extending the lease. www.lease-advice.org

I would certainly consider sleepyj's suggested price above as way, way below what the true cost of extending the lease will be. The valuers cost alone will possibly be in the region of £500 before you start.

Bear in mind that legally you have to have owned a property for 2yrs before having a legal right to a lease extension. It is possible to extend a lease before the 2yr term is up, if the freeholder is in agreement, but he doesn't have to agree before the 2yr ownership period is up.

sleepyj

cattie wrote: »

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I would certainly consider sleepyj's suggested price above as way, way below what the true cost of extending the lease will be. The valuers cost alone will possibly be in the region of £500 before you start.

If you're buying the property when you want to extend the lease the buyer usually asks the seller to extend the leasehold (this gets round the 2 year rule). Worst case scenario the costs will be much higher but in my experience if you ask the seller to extend an over 80 year lease before purchasing a property you will incur a minimal cost. Note - the valuers costs won't come into play if you have a reasonable freeholder.

But you are right £5000 should be budgeted for in the worst case scenario when neither the seller or freeholder want to play ball

amalis

many thanks to all of you for this information. i had no idea about the 2 years rule.. the Seller is a little bit reluctant to extend the lease and actually she could not even tell me the exact number of years left as she can not find her papers...

Fire_Fox

Read the Lease Advisory Service website for all matters relating to service charges, extending your long lease etc.