Lease Extention Quotation - How Much?

PJD

Have you rewnewed a lease before? How much did you pay JUST to get a quote?

i've been quoted "£350 +VAT +any other fees" by my managing agents.

Thanks

nrsql

What sort of lease extension?
Have you bought the flat leasehold and are asking the freeholder for a price to extend?

I am just completing this process but didn't pay anything for the two offers received.
If you have served notice then you would have to pay the costs for the other side. £350 would be a goodly proportion of that I would expect so if this is just an initial enquiry then they are trying it on.

PJD

Yes I've been the owner of my leasehold property for four years. I would like to extend the lease. The managing agents have said that to carry out the various surveys or whatever they will charge £350+, JUST to give me a quote on my how much it will cost to renew the lease. My lease is 79 years old, - the agents would extend this by another 90 years.

nrsql

It's just based on the extra value the extended lease bestows on the property.
This just depends on the current value.

Try asking for an estimate based on a value that you give them. The final price can be decided after the valuation if you decide to go ahead.

You will have to pay for a valuation anyway so if you are definitely going ahead with this then you might as well pay it. You also might get a surveyor to tell you how much the extension should cost and offer that to them.
Though my surveyor came with a figure under half the freeholders and my surveyor eventually said he was wrong - my solicitor said it was due to a change in the law during the negotiations which coincidentally made the freeholders figures correct. Took me over a year to go through the process.

PJD

Over a year! Jesus Christ.

I've already asked the freeholder how much it'll cost, he said that it's impossible to say, & he doesnt like guessing as it's caused problems in the past when he's been very wrong. He said it could be anything from 2k to 35k, although my property, being a one bed masionette will probably be at the lower end.

What a nightmare, if I can sell the propery with the current lease, then I will, - I'm thinking that it's putting people off, which is why i'm looking into extending.

Cheers nrsql

Supernova

Have a look at:

http://www.lease-advice.org/levaframe.htm

for the calculation, and the site generally as well.

It seems pretty complicated. I have been quoted £475 and £750 just for a valuation and advised that my 77 year lease will cost anywhere between £10-15K including all legal costs. Should have done it years ago of course before the 80 year marriage value threshold. Depressing.

PJD

Thanks for the link Mus.

That is a huge amount of money. What are you going to do - try & sell your property 'as is' ?

Dan29

I'm selling a flat with a 78 year lease at the moment. Be warned that most potential purchasers will want to know how much the lease is going to cost to extend. In my case I had a valuation done (£375+VAT) and got a written offer from the freeholder so at least I can answer the question; whether they like the answer is another matter..!

PJD

So there were no other charges then Dan - just the 375+VAT?

Can I ask, how long did the valuation take, & how much will it be to renew the lease?

Dan29

No other charges so far. The surveyor took an hour or so to inspect the flat and then a day to write the report.

His calculation was £8,800 to extend for 99 years, so I wrote to the freeholder offering £8,000. After a bit of toing and froing they agreed to £11,500. Sounds a lot more than £8,800 but if I served notice and went to LVT the legal costs etc are likely to be at least £2,500.

Were you wanting to sell the flat anyway? If so I'd put it on the market and get something in writing from the freeholder if I were you. You won't be extending the lease if you're selling as it'll be sold long before the process of extending could be completed.

PJD

It's disgusting that you have to accept £11,500 because it'll cost you even more in legal fees to go to a LVT. Do you think the freeholder's put the price up as he thinks you will have to extend in order to sell the place?

Also, how long is this quote valid for? A few years down the line the freeholder may want more?

Yes, I'm wanting to sell the flat, one person actually put in an offer, then consequently asked how much it would be to renew the lease, un-prepared for the question I gave an honest answer & said I "didnt know, but anything from 2k - 33k" - this seemed to put him off, funnily enough.

Have you priced your property 11k under value to reflect the price of the lease extention?