Extending a Lease

harlequin55

My 95 year old Father in Law has recently handed over all his affairs for me to manage under a Power of Attorney. On reviewing these it is apparent that there are just 62 years remaining on the lease of the flat that he owns. He bought the flat about 10 years ago so the remaining lease at that time would have been 72 years.

I am no expert on lease arrangements but it appears that the lease may have been allowed to slip to a position where it may become difficult to sell the property at the market rate. After some research online it seems that mortgage lenders will not lend against a property with less than 80 years remaining on the lease. The flat is part of a semi sheltered retirement property and therefore purchasers are generally cash buyers. 

A couple of matters come to mind regarding this matter and I would be most grateful for any feedback from those with greater knowledge than I have on lease hold arrangements.

1. Extending the lease now is going to be very expensive, but nevertheless should this be done and if so for how long?

2. I understand from my Father in Law that the advising solicitor at the time of purchase asked if he wanted to extend the lease. He said no and that was the end of the discussion. No advice was given on the potential consequences of letting the lease run on without extending. Being a layman my Father in Law was no expert on lease arrangements and I question whether or not the solicitor was at fault in not advising further on this issue, particularly to someone who would have been 85 years of age at the time. If there is fault, who can I refer the matter to?

Thank you for taking the time to read this and I would welcome any advice that the forum can provide.

 

 

 

user1977

This is more for the house buying board really, but here goes:

Retirement flats aren't really mortgageable anyway, so the attitude of lenders to lease length is neither here nor there. What matters is whether the price paid reflected the length of the lease - did your father seek any advice (i.e. from a surveyor) on the value of the property? Solicitors aren't qualified to advise on that, so I don't see there's any negligence on the part of the solicitor from what you've said.

harlequin55

Thank you. Topic moved as suggested.