The length remaining on a lease can affect the value of your property and in turn, the willingness of mortgage lenders to lend against it.
If your property is owned on a leasehold basis, its value will decrease as the term of the lease decreases. If your lease were to run out completely, ownership of your property would revert to the landlord.
This means applying for lease extensions in London is a complex area of law and requires specialist advice.
In general, a lease of 90 years or longer is considered safe. If the lease reaches 80 years or less, you could find yourself having difficulties should you want to sell the property.
However, the law allows you a statutory lease extension, which increases the term of your lease and you can apply for a statutory extension as long as you meet certain criteria. This includes:
Certain exclusions apply, for example lease extensions do not apply to leases that are business or commercial.
If you are looking at lease extensions in London, it’s important to seek specialist advice, early on, because the law sets out what must be included in the valuation process. Determining the valuation figure is hugely complex and with property values in London remaining very high, the premium payable can be substantial and therefore accuracy and technical expertise can be vital in order to protect your position in costs if litigation is required.
And once you’ve made your offer, you will be required to cover your landlord’s costs, within reason, so getting a correct extension valuation from the outset is crucial to know whether the extension is affordable and viable.
Extending a lease can be challenging, particularly if a freeholder argues over the value of the premium, the amount that the lease is valued at.
BTMK solicitors are specialists in negotiating lease extensions in London. We can prepare your application and serve the Initial Notice. We can negotiate with the freeholder’s solicitors to agree the terms of the new lease and deal with the important legal requirements of purchasing the new lease.
The process to secure a lease extension is highly technical. If terms cannot be agreed between a Freeholder and a Long Lessee, any application to tribunal is complex and can be expensive if not carried out correctly. The specialists at BTMK will guide you through the process from beginning to end and we will be certain to add value to your leasehold interest or, if you’re a freeholder, we will make sure that you secure the best value possible for the leasehold extension.
We work alongside specialist valuers that deal with residential lease extension valuations on a daily basis. They can support the valuation but also deliver a valuation that is up to date with the current law and other important factors.
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