Lease Extension and Mortgage Question...

DARRENAFOX

Hello

So myself and my partner have been agreed a mortgage with Nationwide on a property that has a 69 year lease, the original agreement was with Nationwide that the lease extension would be paid for with the equity the vendor get's on completion and she would transfer the funds to the leaseholder to extend the lease to 159 years.

She has now paid for this upfront but our solicitors (who are appointed by Mann and Countrywide) have said that they won't agree anything until they have the land registry document (and this can take up to 16 weeks according to LR delays) but they have said that we can go ahead but they do not advise this.

As for the vendor and her estate agent they're willing and prepared to sign a document to say they are legally obligated to extend the lease and show us that the funds have been paid to the freeholder and that the application has been lodged, its a mere formality and due process as far as I'm concerned, I want to proceed on this basis but my partner and solicitor have advised against this.

I have no reason to disbelieve what the vendor and estate agent are saying and they've been nothing but forthcoming to date, but obviously I don't want to wait a further 16 weeks when we've waited 2 months already and our mortgage offer will expire, our mortgage has been agreed on the basis the lease would be extended on completion, so the solicitor isn't acting on behalf of Nationwide and protecting our interest.:(

Help?

It's_sparkle_time

Dear Darren
Firstly who is the freeholder as you cannot expect to extend a lease quickly and easily. If the freeholder is a large company expect a very long difficult and drawn out process. It has taken us 1 year and we are going to a tribunal tomorrow as the freeholder has been increadibly obstructive and difficult.
However if the vendor has paid for the lease extension and her offer has been accepted by the freeholder You would require some documentation from the vendors solicitor this transaction has gone ahead and your solicitor quite rightly needs to see the evidence this has happened.
Lease extensions are specialised transactions and usually dealt with by a surveyor not a real estate agent. It sounds like your solicitor is protecting you interest and the vendor would struggle otherwise to sell the property unless this has been sorted out. A lease below 80 years is undesirable as they are very expensive to extend. All you can do know if you are still keen is let the lender know you require and extension until this issue has resolved. An extended lease makes your property more valuable so if the vendor has taken the trouble to do this then it's worth hanging in there.
I hope this is helpful