FREE INITIAL ADVICE
Andrew Veitch (a solicitor in the West End of London W1) is willing to initially discuss (free of charge) your ability to extend your residential lease.
FOR HOW LONG CAN YOU EXTEND YOUR LEASE?
The statutory right to extend your residential lease is provided by the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (as amended.) This allows you to extend your lease by way of a grant of a new lease for a term of 90 years, in addition to the unexpired term of your lease. The new lease will also provide for a peppercorn rent (i.e. no money has to be paid for the rent - no rent is payable.)
HOW DO I QUALIFY TO EXTEND MY LEASE?
Subject to a few exceptions, to qualify to extend your lease by 90 years you must own a long lease (a lease that was originally at least 21 years long) and have owned it for the past two years.
WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OR WHY SHOULD I EXTEND MY LEASE?
As the length of the unexpired term of a lease decreases so does the resale value of the lease. Thus if you extend your lease you will add value to the sale price of your flat/property and/or prevent the value of your flat/property decreasing.
FOR HOW LONG CAN YOU EXTEND YOUR LEASE?
The statutory right to extend your residential lease is provided by the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (as amended.) This allows you to extend your lease by way of a grant of a new lease for a term of 90 years, in addition to the unexpired term of your lease. The new lease will also provide for a peppercorn rent (i.e. no money has to be paid for the rent - no rent is payable.)
HOW DO I QUALIFY TO EXTEND MY LEASE?
Subject to a few exceptions, to qualify to extend your lease by 90 years you must own a long lease (a lease that was originally at least 21 years long) and have owned it for the past two years.
WHAT IS THE BENEFIT OR WHY SHOULD I EXTEND MY LEASE?
As the length of the unexpired term of a lease decreases so does the resale value of the lease. Thus if you extend your lease you will add value to the sale price of your flat/property and/or prevent the value of your flat/property decreasing.
If a lease has less than 80 years unexpired (the amount/years left of a lease) then as part of the cost to extend your lease you will have to pay what is known as a "marriage value" to your landlord. This will increase the cost of extending your lease. For this reason should consider extending sooner rather than later.
Due to mortgage lender's requirements (Banks and building society) you could be faced with difficulties selling your flat if the unexpired term is less than is regarded as mortgageable by most lenders. Different lenders have different rules but they are generally require at least an unexpired term of 25 years beyond the length of a mortgage. As most mortgages are re-paid over 25 years most lenders require a minimum unexpired term of about 50 - 60 years. Thus if you extend your lease a buyer will be able to obtain a mortgage to purchase your flat/property and your flat/property will be more marketable and valuable.
WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE TO EXTEND MY LEASE?
There is a strict legal procedure to extend your lease. First of all you need to serve a Notice of Claim on the landlord to claim a lease extension (based of what you believe is the value of the cost of extending your lease.) I suggest that a specialist valuer is instructed to prepare a valuation report (especially in Central London) so that you are aware of the potential cost of the lease extension. I can recommend a suitable valuer to you.
The service of the Notice of Claim is only the start of the legal process for acquiring a 90 year extension. The cost of the lease extension may be agreed with your landlord (after negotiations) or your claim may end up in the the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal ("LVT") which may have to decide what the amount payable for the lease extension should be. Since there are strict time limits, rules relating to service of the notices and counter notices, information and documentation to be served and your claim could end up in the LVT (which is a little bit like a court hearing) you may be advised to seek legal advice or instruct a solicitor to handle your claim to ensure that your claim does not fail, you do not pay too much for your lease extension and you keep costs payable to your landlord to a minimum.
If you wish to consider extending your lease please do not hesitate to contact Andrew Veitch for further advice:
Andrew Veitch solicitor - LL.B., M.A., Pg Dip
C/O Guy Clapham & Co
51-55 Weymouth Street
Marylebone
Westminster
London W1G 8NH
E-Mail: andrew@guyclapham.com
Tel: 020 7935 1095
This blog provides basic general legal information to help people understand their legal rights, but is not a substitute for personal legal advice from a solicitor. By the very nature of a blog the information published in blog posts on this site may be out of date.
Therefore this blog is subject to our following disclaimer and conditions of use:
Where no personal consultation has taken place with Andrew Veitch or the partners or employees of Guy Clapham & Co under no circumstances will Andrew Veitch or the partners of Guy Clapham & Co be responsible for (1) any information contained in, omitted or received from this site, (2) any persons reliance on any such information, whether or not the information is correct, current or complete, (3) the consequences of any action you or any other person takes or fails to take, whether or not based on information provided (4)
Due to mortgage lender's requirements (Banks and building society) you could be faced with difficulties selling your flat if the unexpired term is less than is regarded as mortgageable by most lenders. Different lenders have different rules but they are generally require at least an unexpired term of 25 years beyond the length of a mortgage. As most mortgages are re-paid over 25 years most lenders require a minimum unexpired term of about 50 - 60 years. Thus if you extend your lease a buyer will be able to obtain a mortgage to purchase your flat/property and your flat/property will be more marketable and valuable.
WHAT IS THE PROCEDURE TO EXTEND MY LEASE?
There is a strict legal procedure to extend your lease. First of all you need to serve a Notice of Claim on the landlord to claim a lease extension (based of what you believe is the value of the cost of extending your lease.) I suggest that a specialist valuer is instructed to prepare a valuation report (especially in Central London) so that you are aware of the potential cost of the lease extension. I can recommend a suitable valuer to you.
The service of the Notice of Claim is only the start of the legal process for acquiring a 90 year extension. The cost of the lease extension may be agreed with your landlord (after negotiations) or your claim may end up in the the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal ("LVT") which may have to decide what the amount payable for the lease extension should be. Since there are strict time limits, rules relating to service of the notices and counter notices, information and documentation to be served and your claim could end up in the LVT (which is a little bit like a court hearing) you may be advised to seek legal advice or instruct a solicitor to handle your claim to ensure that your claim does not fail, you do not pay too much for your lease extension and you keep costs payable to your landlord to a minimum.
If you wish to consider extending your lease please do not hesitate to contact Andrew Veitch for further advice:
Andrew Veitch solicitor - LL.B., M.A., Pg Dip
C/O Guy Clapham & Co
51-55 Weymouth Street
Marylebone
Westminster
London W1G 8NH
E-Mail: andrew@guyclapham.com
Tel: 020 7935 1095
This blog provides basic general legal information to help people understand their legal rights, but is not a substitute for personal legal advice from a solicitor. By the very nature of a blog the information published in blog posts on this site may be out of date.
Therefore this blog is subject to our following disclaimer and conditions of use:
Where no personal consultation has taken place with Andrew Veitch or the partners or employees of Guy Clapham & Co under no circumstances will Andrew Veitch or the partners of Guy Clapham & Co be responsible for (1) any information contained in, omitted or received from this site, (2) any persons reliance on any such information, whether or not the information is correct, current or complete, (3) the consequences of any action you or any other person takes or fails to take, whether or not based on information provided (4)
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