Selling flat with 92yr lease?

funnymonkey

Good afternoon.
After a little advice if you don't mind.

I'm selling my flat which has a 92 year lease and just wondering if that's an acceptable lease period for buyers?

Thank you very much

macman

Even if they are buying with a mortgage, it'll still have 67 years left at end of term on a 25 year mortgage. For a cash buyer, I don't think it's a deterrent.

ileven1225

Mortgage lenders still accept flats with 92 yeras lease for sure, I don't think you got problem to sell,  I believe it's more related to buyers as they probably need to extend the lease when they want to resell it. Lease with 80 years or less would be difficult to sell and the property value might be affected.

loubel

Agreed, it should be mortgageable so there will be a market for it but the lease length will put some people off due to the need for an extension within the coming years.

NameUnavailable

At 92 years you're probably going to find it OK.

I wouldn't buy with a lease that short unless the flat was cheaper than other comparable flats. OK it's not 'short' as such but if one lived there for 5 years then selling it on again is going to get more difficult unless it's priced to reflect the need for a looming lease extension.

Having said that, it seems a lot of buyers are oblivious to what a lease actually means or the impact of a lease of less than 80 years!

Other important issues are the ground rent (hot topic at the moment and cause of many failed sales) and service charges.

MultiFuelBurner

How much is it to extend, might as well get that figure now for potential buyers and you may or may not consider splitting the difference especially if the market is a bit stale where you are?

eddddy

MultiFuelBurner said:

How much is it to extend, might as well get that figure now for potential buyers and you may or may not consider splitting the difference especially if the market is a bit stale where you are?

Yep - but the OP would need to decide what quote to get...

1. A rough idea from an online calculator - which would be free
2. A formal valuation from a lease extension valuer - which might cost £600+
3. An informal offer from the freeholder - which might be hugely over-priced - and could still cost £600+

I guess there's no harm in getting a rough idea from an online calculator, for free.

JM68

I would not consider buying without factoring in the costs to extend the lease in my offer. 

You can get a good estimate online - e.g. search "connaught lease extension calculator".

However, to add to the estimated costs of the premium you need to add both your own legal and valuation costs plus the freeholders costs that you also have to pay.  Ours were about £6k in total for both.

Also, the process is not quick.  Our took 12 months end to end as we had to issue a tribunal claim before they agreed the premium (we were told by solicitor this is quite commmon).  Plus it then takes a similar period for the lease extension to be registered with the LR which is needed for any sale to complete.

One option is you can start the process (so the new buyer does not have to wait 2 years to do so) and discount the sale price to reflect their future costs of extending.

Or you can, as others indicate, just try and get a buyer with the lease as it is.