Extend Your Lease guide discussion

Tom99

Badoudn wrote: »

I am in the process of going down the formal route for a lease extension - I now have 60 years left on my lease on a flat bought in 1998.

I am looking for advice on a couple of questions;

1) I was wondering if, back when I bought my flat or the subsequent 2 times I remortgaged, my solicitor should have warned me that my lease was at 80 years or lower and whether there is any legal action I could take against them?
2) Can the costs associated with the lease extension be paid out of the sale of the property e.g. agreed with the buyer and freeholder to complete and extend the lease on the same day?

You are out of time for a professional negligence claim, the max is 15yrs.
There is no reason why a solicitor should bring the short term to your attention when you re-mortgaged.

Badoudn

da_rule wrote: »

Did you purchase it with 80 or 81 years remaining?

Either way, did the solicitor not make you aware at all of the term remaining? If they did, did you ask for advice on what this means?

As for remortgaging, again, unless you asked then I can’t see why they would go out of their way to advise you on this. They would believe that, as you accepted the assignment of the lease, you were aware of the terms contained within it.

In relation to completion, yes you can arrange for simultaneous completion of the extension and then an assignment and pass the appropriate sale monies onto the freeholder.

Thanks for the answers, has alleviated some stress and my blood pressure is back to normal.

First time buyer so was just happy to get on the property ladder, my bad for not being more savvy. I now know it was purchased with 80 years left on the lease and I don't believe that they made me aware of the significance of the term remaining and can see nothing in the correspondence from them.

Tom99

Badoudn wrote: »

First time buyer so was just happy to get on the property ladder, my bad for not being more savvy. I now know it was purchased with 80 years left on the lease and I don't believe that they made me aware of the significance of the term remaining and can see nothing in the correspondence from them.

In which case unless the seller served a lease extension notice and assigned it to you then you would have to wait 2 yrs to serve a notice and would have paid 50% of the marriage value anyway.

AliceBanned

Hi

I posted this on the main thread but probably better off here as it is about the complications of lease extension and what to do:

I have recently found out that as I am in a shared ownership flat (40% owned with a housing association owning the rest) I can only extend my lease through the informal route.


I am not sure how helpful the informal route is? I am finding it hard to get information on this. The Housing Assoc is recommending it but I presume it suits them better.


When I staircase to 100% which should be at the end of this year or slightly later, I will be able to extend through the formal route. However then I have to wait two years before I can extend the least, by which time it will be 79 years.


Can anyone recommend what might be best for me to do? Even the option of selling up soon appeals to me if I can find somewhere else that I like, or is that a bit drastic? eg an investor could buy the flat 100% and the lease falls below 80 years on 29 Nov 2021 so they might have time before the lease falls below the marriage value.


I am thinking it might be best for me to staircase, wait two years and then extend when at 79 years but I didn't want to stay as long as beyond two years because I might be able to afford a bigger place or something more ideal by then, or what if I want to move because of change of job? Lease issue is a real pain but maybe I've misunderstood it.

Jack99

A very interesting and helpful thread. I’m looking to buy a property with 91 years remaining on the lease and even though this doesn’t seem to concern some of you, it is a worry for me. I want to enquire about extending the lease. The flat has a value of £160k and currently already only has a peppercorn rent. The agent suggested a ball park figure of 8-12k to extend which I thought was excessive.. the calculators I’ve used online suggest 2-3k. My question is if the seller submits a section 42 on my behalf before the sale, does that start the process formally or can I pick it up with an informal offer? I really don’t want to buy and have to wait 2 years. Thanks

Tom99

Jack99 wrote: »

A very interesting and helpful thread. I’m looking to buy a property with 91 years remaining on the lease and even though this doesn’t seem to concern some of you, it is a worry for me. I want to enquire about extending the lease. The flat has a value of £160k and currently already only has a peppercorn rent. The agent suggested a ball park figure of 8-12k to extend which I thought was excessive.. the calculators I’ve used online suggest 2-3k. My question is if the seller submits a section 42 on my behalf before the sale, does that start the process formally or can I pick it up with an informal offer? I really don’t want to buy and have to wait 2 years. Thanks

Yes the seller can agree in the contract to serve a section 42 notice after exchange of contracts and assign that notice to you providing they have owned the flat for 2yrs. You then take it forward and pay all the costs involved.
I would make sure your solicitor has approved the draft notice because if the notice is, for any reason, invalid you will have to wait 2yrs.
Remember you pay both sides costs as well as the premium which may well add another £2-£3k+

daztraction

daztraction wrote: »

I also have 89 years left on my lease and would be interested in folks opinions as to what may happen over the next two years in regards to Government changes to extending leaseholds. I'll probably hold off from extending my lease for a few years anyway (and stash some money away in the meantime to pay for it), but I'm wondering what's in store in the meantime.

Does anyone know what has happened in regards the situation with Government changes to extending leaseholds? Did anything come of it?

MigsyBigsy

Hello All,

I am currently looking into extending my parent's lease on their flat but curious to know if those out there have been succesful with their informal route? If so, is it an easier process, cheaper etc...?

Apologies if this has been asked before

M

rachel230

You are always advised where possible, to go down the formal route and engage a lease specialist. It's a complex area of law and too many opportunities for unscrupulous freeholders to take advantage of the inexperienced lay person. National Leasehold Campaign Facebook group is a supportive and knowledgeable campaigning group.

DaveMCH

Hi please can someone provide some advice? I've been reading and the more I read the more I get confused.

My leasehold flat has 82 years remaining on the lease. If the price to extend is £10,000 will the value of my flat increase by £10,000? I keep reading that by extending the lease I will protect the value of my flat but I can't find anything that says it will increase the value and I am confused what protecting the value means.