Extend Your Lease guide discussion

tilly78_2

I'm sorry if this is already mentioned in this thread.

What is the standard length of time it takes for a lease extenstion to go through?

richardw

tilly78 wrote: »

....What is the standard length of time it takes for a lease extenstion to go through?..

I don't think there is a 'standard' it can vary.

If you approach your freeholder and agree to their terms it may be the quickest, but you may be paying too much and the terms may not be good.

If you go down the statutory route and can issue a notice at an appropriate time it appears this is an important milestone.

Have a read of this bit of the guide http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/extend-your-lease#step

If your freeholder has many flats see if they've been to the LVT http://www.lease-advice.org/lvtdecisions/tables.asp?table=3

liam1989

morning all,

i have two really quick questions. firstly, i have just managed to get hold of some money which im hoping is able to get my lease extended.

firstly, it says by law i have to have been living in the property for at least 2 years before i can do anything. is this rubbish? can i do something about it now? (btw i have been living in the property for 6 months)

and secondly, the figure i have been advised by various calculators and websites for cost of an extension is 4k. is this based on a house, because i live in a flat?

many thanks for reading and replies will be most helpful

Peater

You can approach the freeholder at anytime you like. It is just after 2yrs that you get the statutory right to do so.

You are likely to get an uncompetitive offer if going to non-stat route as they quite literally have you over a barrell.

spendaddict

I am currently selling my flat with 62 years lease, I had 3 Estate Agents round and asked advice on wether to extend to lease or lower the price to take into account the lease length. All 3 said to put it up at the lower price and if the buyers want to extend the lease to do this a seperate negotiation to the flat purchase. Is this good advice? All 3 also didnt think I would have any problems selling with the lease length.

richardw

spendaddict wrote: »

..I am currently selling my flat with 62 years lease...

In the MSE guide it describes the statutory lease extension process as taking longer than a prison sentence, so you may not want to wait that long if you are moving.

Perhaps read a bit more about 'Marriage value'

from http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/documents/document.asp?item=10

"The marriage value is taken as the potential for increase in the value of the flat arising from the grant of the new lease; the Act requires that this 'profit' shall be shared between the parties. The proportion of the split of marriage value is fixed by the legislation at 50:50 division between the landlord and the leaseholder. In the calculation of the marriage value the leaseholder's and landlord's valuers will rely on local knowledge and experience to assess the increase in value in the flat arising from the new lease."

Your estate agents may not fully understand about marriage value.

Your flat has one value with a 62 year lease and potential for one value with a much longer lease.

The buyers couldn't do a lease extension under the statutory process until they've lived there for 2 years or more and a lease extension informally with the freeholder may be more expensive with unfavourable terms.

Can potential buyers get a mortgage for a flat with a 62 year lease?

in the meantime you could look at recent sale prices https://www.nethouseprices.co.uk to see what similar flats have sold at.

Fire245

After reading the MSE article i have looked into my own leasehold and was pretty horrified to realise the extend of the problem! I have 68 yrs left on my lease and now am keen to sell on! I have looked into extending the lease but have been given a quote of over £8000 to extend by 24 yrs (take the original lease froom 99 yrs to 125 yrs). Compared the calculator on the site which is for adding an additional 90 yrs, this seems highly expensive!

Does anyone have any thoughts on it - i just dont know whether to cut my loses and pay the money or try and get it reduced (if it can be??). I rang my leasehold management company but they offered no insight in how the figure was given?

propertyman

If the extension they are selling is 24 years then you get 24 plus 68. 125 years is 125-68 ie a 58 year extension.

The statutory extension is 68 plus 90 , and depending on the ground rent amount there is not a lot of difference, as the biggest determinant is that the lease is now less than 80 years.

One option is to agree the extension but rather than a peppercorn rent ( ie next to nothing rent) is agree a modern ground rent comparable to flats in the area say £200 to £400 per annum,

This reduces the premium and works out if you plan to stay there for only a few years.

I suggest that you get a local chartered surveyor ( not the local estate agent) to value the property and the lease extension and discuss the options with you and negotiate with the freeholder offering the extension.

If you cannot agree terms by negotiation or the statutory route you can apply to the Leasehold valuation Tribunal to determine terms.

http://www.lease-advice.org/publications/documents/document.asp?item=8

skater_kat

Hi all,

Looking for a bit of advice.

I have a shared ownership flat (so no statutory rights to extension)

I have 87 years left of lease, looking to extend as hoping to sell in the next 5-10 years.

I asked the housing association as to the process, they have come back and quoted me £2,500 in fees etc paid up front before they can give me the figure of the actual premium due to be paid to extend the lease. (this is for a survey and solicitors fees plus VAT).

They have no legal obligation to do anything so I feel a bit cornered. However I feel asking for 2.5k before I even find out if I can afford a premium is unreasonable.

Any advice appreciated. I wondered if I would just aim to take a lower sale price when I come to sell in the future and let the new owner deal with it?

spendaddict

With the expectation of getting shouted down here, I need to point out I bought my flat with 73 years lease 11 years ago with no problems with mortgage at all, I change my mortgage deal on average every 2 years and it has never ever been bought up as an issue. Now that I am close to 60 years I know that it will be an issue so have reflected it in the asking price, I think this is an excellent forum but feel that it is making some people panick unneccesarily.

Let the shouting begin x