First time buy and 46 years on the lease...

BFinch90

I'm about to start the process of buying my first flat but lease issues are looming! The flat is on the market at a fixed price (cash only) of £115K and currently has 46 years remaining on the lease. Before the lease length was discovered, it was on the market for £140K (which is in line with other recent sold prices in the block). The ground rent is £50 p/a.

Can anyone give me a rough idea (including calculations/process please - I'd like to learn!) of how much it would cost to extend the lease? Would it be in my interest to do this sooner rather than later (if I can get the vendor to agree to a Section 42)? I would rather wait longer (around 4 years) in order to save the money for the lease extension - would this be damaging?

I will of course seek legal advice when the time comes - most importantly right now, I'm trying to work out whether I am potentially throwing all my savings away! :eek: Thank you!!

mije1983

Probably at least £25k. The longer you leave it the more expensive it will become so better to do it sooner rather than later.

Some info here about the process but the MSE calculater doesn't work for leases of less than 60 years.

http://www.moneysavingexpert.com/mortgages/extend-your-lease

marksoton

Do not get involved. Walk away.

Find somewhere else.

AdrianC

The official Leasehold Advice Service calculator won't go below 50yrs outside Prime Central London (which I guess this isn't, going by the numbers).
https://www.lease-advice.org/calculator/

It's not playing for me now, but I suspect that £25k is on the low side.

Pixie5740

It might be worth buying but only for a lot less that £115k.

csgohan4

lol the vendors are trying to sell market value for similar properties but with a lease less than 50 years, I would walk away, who knows what other issues the property has

eddddy

Obviously, a lease extension valuer would be able to indicate what the lease extension would cost today, in two years time, etc, etc

(They tend to give best case figures and worst case figures - and you would hope to negotiate a price somewhere in-between with the freeholder.)

However, I suspect that a valuer might expect a fee before offering any advice on this.

But you could try phoning a few valuers to see if they'd offer any insight. If you phone 'one man businesses', it's often the valuer who answers the phone - so they may informally discuss stuff with you.

Cakeguts

Can't you find a flat with a long lease on it? This one won't be any cheaper by the time you have got a lease extension so you might as well buy one where you don't have to go to all the hassle of extending the lease.

agrinnall

I would suggest that if you really want to buy this flat you do so at somewhere around the £140K level and insist that the vendor extends the lease before completion, that way the cost falls on them rather than you. Personally I would find something else.

Mortgage_Moog

I just bought a leasehold property and I wouldn't touch anything with less than 90 years remaining. I suppose you're a cash buyer, no mortgage lender will touch a property with less than 80 years remaining due to the costs of the lease.

From my research it's more the legal fees involved that rack up the price. I could extend my lease of 110 years by about 50 years for £1000 but it would cost £4000 for the legal work.

You may know that you can't extend the lease until you've lived there for a minimum of two years and if the current owner does it before you move in then the price will rocket.

pinkshoes

Why not ask the vendor to either extend the lease themselves, or at least get a quote from the freeholder to have it extended.

You can then make your decision based on this.

The fact that it is cash only indicates a very short lease...

Have you talked to other owners who have already extended the lease on how easy it was to do and how much it cost?