Extend Your Lease guide discussion

buglawton

A major annoyance for buyers is this:
Estate agents all use Rightmove and Zoopla to market your property.
For a large proportion of potential buyers the Web is the first port of call nowadays so this matters.
On the property listing there's loads on info - map, nearest schools, broadband speed checker, sold prices nearby etc.
But does the EA ever state the remaining lease term upfront in the public listing? Fat chance!

So buyers all have to phone/email the agent to find out the 'real' price as you need to put the lease term into the calculation. A poor lease causes an exaggerated price drop compared to the cost of repairing the lease since poor lease means most buy-to-live-in mortgages will be refused without a huge deposit. Big waste of time and I started to ignore all listings of a 'certain type' of potential property due to this time wasting.

There really ought to be a code of practice that obliges the remaining lease term to be part of any advertisement.

As it is, it's a bit like advertising goods but refusing to state if VAT is included unless you phone to find out!

turtleneck

That really winds me up too. I find rightmove frustrating for a few reasons, the whole point of a search should be to filter results so you don't waste time looking at unsuitable properties.

As well as a filter for leasehold/freehold, I think they should have another option to filter house shares. I have often looked for one bedroom flats and been presented with hundreds of house shares I'm not interested in. Also they should stamp out people listing studios as one beds when they are obviously not.

IanIan

dastep wrote: »

My question: Seeing that the property has just passed to our families, and we are not able to get an extended lease on the property until owning for 2 years, what is our best route?

Your best route is to speak to a lawyer experienced in enfranchisement law, because the two year rule may not apply to you in this instance. This is because if the property is still held by the executors, then the executors can apply for the lease extension.


This looks like another example of unqualified, inexperienced people giving bad advice. With leasehold enfranchisement, you do need to consult an expert lawyer and an expert valuer. This will cost money, but I suggest that money would be well spent.

C_Noodles

Hi, we live in Scotland and need to extend the lease of a flat we rent out in Cambridge. I guess a Scottish solicitor would be no good but could we go with one in, say Northern England or would it make more sense to choose one in Cambs? Not sure if this process involves them visiting the property/meeting with the freeholder (who are near the property).

Many thanks for any advice...

Kojak12

To C_Noodles - the laws are different in Scotland and the UK so you would be best getting a professional involved south of the border. Valuations vary greatly by location too so you should look for someone who is experienced in the area the property is located. A good place to start is the Leasehold Advisory Service. They have a practitioners list;
http://directory.lease-advice.org/

C_Noodles

That makes sense, thanks. Will follow the link :-)

weaner101

I am in the process of selling my leasehold flat. The freehold is owned my myself and the owner of the other two flats in the building as tenants in common.

My lease has 67 years left to run (as does his two leases) and so I am arranging (at the request of my buyer) for the lease to be extended prior to completion.

My solicitor has drafted the lease extension documentation which the co-freeholder has had for sometime time now - I have been chasing as this is causing delays in the chain. We have now heard from him and he is requiring £450 plus VAT to cover his solicitor's fees.

Does this seem reasonable to you, bearing in mind no drafting is involved and we share the freehold jointly?

BrunoM

Hi all

An ageing family friend is looking to sell her flat, and we've just discovered that it seems to have an incredibly short lease life remaining - possibly 7-8 years (tbc).

Is there anything we should be bearing in mind, and does anyone have a sense of what either renewal or purchasing freehold might cost (assuming she's entitled to do either?), for a property which is probably worth £350-400k if sorted?

Thanks for any advice.

crazygeordiegirl

To cut a long story short the prospective buyer pulled out of buying our flat because of the length of the lease (59 years) even though he knew the lease length when making the offer and price he offered reflected the short lease.

Anyway, I applied for the lease extension quote.

Online calculators & the calculator provided by sgclacy here gave me the idea the lease extension should be between £7k and £9k, the quote has come back at £9750 + £480 costs, needless to say I am gutted (we don't have 9k, never mind more, would have to be taking a loan out!)

Is there anything I can do about the quote or will I have to just grin, bear, pay it?

The flat is currently worth approx £74k with a extended lease (I think!), ground rent is £15 a year. There are 59.5 years left on the lease.

They have also offered

A new 100 year lease for £4875 (plus £480) costs, ground rent being £270 a year, reviewed in 10 years time.

A new 100 year lease, no upfront cost (apart from £480 costs) , ground rent being £514 a year, reviewed in 10 years time.

However financially long term paying the £9750 makes more sense (getting more for mone)

And finally, do I need a solicitor if I just pay what they ask?

Any advise would be greatly appreciated.

Blondeburble

I am after any help or guidance in the right direction, how can children help their parents raise enough money to extend the lease on their property, especially when your parents are in their eighties and would not get any form of mortgage.
Thanks in Advance