subject: Leasehold Extension: Extend Your Lease Before Its Too Late [print this page] Many leaseholders have viewed the process of extending a lease as both timely and expensive. Did you know that currently, there are some very good reasons for you to begin the process of extending the term of your lease?
Over the last few decades, solicitors, banks and building societies have viewed a short lease (that of 70 years or less years left to run) is a no-no when purchasing a leasehold property, and they would advise that you dont proceed with the sale, and instead find a property with a least of 80 years or more left to run.
Presently, the Council of Mortgage Lenders which consists of 98% of lenders in England as Wales as their members will lend on leasehold properties with at least 65 years of the lease left to run. However, since the beginning of 2012 several lenders have began to tighten their lending criteria and have upped the acceptable length of a lease left to run as 75 years or more.
Its time to extend your lease, as other lenders will soon follow suit and lending will be even more difficult on properties with a short lease.
The major deterrent putting off leaseholders from extending their lease is the perceived time it takes to go through the process and the costs involved. This is a misconception because in many cases its a simple process of negotiation with the landlord and drafting the new lease for signage.
The key is to use a reliable experienced conveyancing solicitor, as this can cut short the process to as little as a month. If you are considering selling the property in the foreseeable future, then its best to do this before the property is marketed.
Another reason to extend your lease now is that lease extension costs have dropped over the last couple of years and most price negotiations take no more than a month to come to agreement. If the two parties cannot agree, then the seller would serve notice on the landlord to turn up to a Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. This is uncommon, but is a good way to ensure that your lease extension is fair. You must factor into your leasehold management plan the lease extension, if required. Extend your lease now before its too late.
For more information about Bernie Wales please visit at http://www.berniewales.co.uk.
