Extend Your Lease guide discussion

simonsharp

Hello all,

Finding i can't really search for this on the forum/google, so apologies in advance if this is a repeat question.

I would like to purchase a ex-LA with 89 years remaining, to live in for at least 10-15 years. The sellers are starting the process of extending the lease with the council on our concern, however looking at the cost (the calculators suggest this will be in the order of 18,000 + legal fees for the 500K+ property), we will simply not be able to afford to pay this much money up front. We will then have to wait two years to apply for extension, at which point the costs of the extension will have gone up. Even then, it will be a struggle probably to commit to paying that much money in one go.

My questions are therefore:

1) is there any way I can ask the seller to complete the process of lease extension as part of the conditions of the offer?
2) Furthermore, can this happen after we have moved into the property (i.e. the seller completes the process in the background whilst we are residing there)?
3) If not, what is the rough amount of time this process can be completed in?

Many thanks

eddddy

simonsharp wrote: »

(the calculators suggest this will be in the order of 18,000 + legal fees for the 500K+ property)

Are you sure you've entered the numbers correctly - that seems very high.

https://www.lease-advice.org/calculator/

simonsharp wrote: »

1) is there any way I can ask the seller to complete the process of lease extension as part of the conditions of the offer?

It sounds like you're talking about a statutory lease extension - that can take between 6 and 18 months. Are the seller and you prepared to wait.

Also, does the seller have £18k (or whatever) in cash available to pay for this?

simonsharp wrote: »

2) Furthermore, can this happen after we have moved into the property (i.e. the seller completes the process in the background whilst we are residing there)?

Why? How does that help?

If you mean that you want the seller to pay the £18k - you would just reduce your offer by £18k

simonsharp wrote: »

3) If not, what is the rough amount of time this process can be completed in?

A statutory lease extension can take between 6 and 18 months

simonsharp

Yes, the numbers are entered correctly into two calculators. The range is 13,000-18,000.

I meant if I or the seller was not willing to wait for the long process to be completed, I could start living in the property, the seller moves out and starts living in their new property, but still can continue completing the process if this was a condition of sale.

eddddy

simonsharp wrote: »

I meant if I or the seller was not willing to wait for the long process to be completed, I could start living in the property, the seller moves out and starts living in their new property, but still can continue completing the process if this was a condition of sale.

I realise that's what you mean.

But my question is "Why would you want to do that?"

What benefit do you think it gives you? (I can't see any benefit.)

simonsharp

To save me the legal hassle/costs of having to go through the lease extension process myself and to enable me to start living at the property before completion of the process

Tom99

simonsharp wrote: »

To save me the legal hassle/costs of having to go through the lease extension process myself and to enable me to start living at the property before completion of the process

[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]The only way for you to complete the purchase and live at the property before the lease extension has been completed is for the seller to server a Section 42 Notice and assign it to you as the new owner.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]You then take forward the negotiations and pay for the cost of the lease extension.[/FONT]
[FONT=Verdana, sans-serif]You can try and estimate how much in total the lease extension will cost you and negotiate that as a discount to the price you pay for the flat now but getting that price right cannot be guaranteed. You may end up out of pocket.[/FONT]

eddddy

simonsharp wrote: »

To save me the legal hassle/costs of having to go through the lease extension process myself and to enable me to start living at the property before completion of the process

OK - so I think you're saying you want the seller to bear the uncertainty of the costs.

i.e. The total cost might be £15k or it might be £22k - you want the seller to worry about the +/-£7k, so you don't have to.

As Tom99 says, realistically all you can do is drop your offer by £15k or £18.5k or £22k or some other amount. If the offer is accepted, you might end up a winner or a loser.

But bear in mind that many people wouldn't be immediately worrying about a lease extension on an 89 year lease, so the seller might not be sympathetic to negotiating a discount for a lease extension.

simonsharp

Thanks for the insights

oldwiring

I half heard something on changes to process of lease extension on BBC Today. Has anyone fuller details of what is suggested and idea when this is to be considered?

starving_artist

oldwiring wrote: »

I half heard something on changes to process of lease extension on BBC Today. Has anyone fuller details of what is suggested and idea when this is to be considered?

The Law Commission has just published its https://s3-eu-west-2.amazonaws.com/lawcom-prod-storage-11jsxou24uy7q/uploads/2018/07/Consultation-Paper-Summary.pdf["]proposals for reform[/URL] and is now consulting on them. This is the beginning of the process to change or make new legislation but there is a long way to go yet.