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Lease extension - how do we do it?!!!
samuelsmith3
Posts: 1 Newbie
Hello all,
We own a studio flat in Belsize Park (worth around £350,000 as it also has a large terrace and garage).
We have around 49 years left on our lease and want to get the lease extended to make it easier to sell the property. The freeholder (who lives next door) is happy with this but we have heard stories from other flats that the freeholder has asked for a premimum of around £30,000 for identical flats to ours in building.
This seems a huge amount to us!
The formula for calculating the premium seems to be pretty easy for the freeholder to arbitrarily set and, if we challenge, we have to pay all their legal fees - which are apparently £250 an hour!
It all seems a very difficult and costly process. Anyone have any thoughts on whether £30,000 sounds a lot and also on how we should best go about getting a successful outcome!
Advice and experiences much appreciated!
Sam Smith
We own a studio flat in Belsize Park (worth around £350,000 as it also has a large terrace and garage).
We have around 49 years left on our lease and want to get the lease extended to make it easier to sell the property. The freeholder (who lives next door) is happy with this but we have heard stories from other flats that the freeholder has asked for a premimum of around £30,000 for identical flats to ours in building.
This seems a huge amount to us!
The formula for calculating the premium seems to be pretty easy for the freeholder to arbitrarily set and, if we challenge, we have to pay all their legal fees - which are apparently £250 an hour!
It all seems a very difficult and costly process. Anyone have any thoughts on whether £30,000 sounds a lot and also on how we should best go about getting a successful outcome!
Advice and experiences much appreciated!
Sam Smith
0
Comments
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I'm afraid that £30,000 doesn't sound that far off. You have an expensive property with what I would consider to be a particularly short lease. There was a ruling quite recently that sent the cost of Lease Extensions up by about 20% across the board
At present, you are only likely to get a cash buyer with such a short lease 
. I think even the most flexible of lenders want 25 years over the term of the lease to lend on.
If you talk to the people at www.lease-advice.org.uk they might be able to help you with a rough idea of the cost of extension. You can also pay a surveyor or a company to give you your own independent valuation which, considering the potential costs, might be worth it.
You will find information on the site (under publications) of how to go about extending your lease. Sometimes it can be cheaper to club together and buy your freehold.
The webiste linke I've given you is the Leasehold Advisory Service. They are a Government funded body, so they won't be offering you duff advice to get your money
Whatever you decide to do, you must haggle with that freeholder!Everything that is supposed to be in heaven is already here on earth.
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