Lease extension on Freehold property
Sharon, this is an interesting question – my area of expertise is not in this field, so I’ve done some research and come up with the following:
- The shorter a lease is, the more problematic your flat will be once you come to sell. This is not because of any legal implications, more to the point is the fact that banks won’t lend money (mortgage) for a property that has a short lease. “Short” in this instance is usually anything less than 80 years.
- It is possible to extend a lease under the terms of the Leasehold Reform (Housing & Urban Development) Act 1993.
My suggestion would be to approach a solicitor who has more knowledge of this in order to get full and frank advice.
More reading:
Not much direct advice from me, sorry. Well, I hope that this answer helps a bit!
2 November 2009 at 22:20 GMT
To be able to claim a lease extension under the 1993 Act, you must own a “long lease”, and have owned it for the past two years and not be a business or commercial tenant.
In the case of a Buy-To-Let owner holding the property in a business name, as long as the lease is a residential lease, the owner will still be eligible for a lease extension.
You do not need to have lived in the property for this period, merely owned the lease for two years or more.
http://www.leaseholddoctors.co.uk/lease.html