If you purchase a leasehold property, there will be a lease attached to that property. A leasehold is when you own the property, but not the land that it sits on – this is owned by a landlord who is also known as the freeholder.
It is important to check how many years are left on your lease and extend it before leaving it too late. Newer properties will likely have leases that span 200-500 years, but older properties may have shorter leases. Being proactive is important and our lease extension specialists at Cavendish Legal Group can assist you with this.
Why should you consider extending a lease?
Your lease is very important, and it can have an impact on your property in a number of different ways. If the lease expires, technically you don’t own your property anymore as the land and anything that sits on that land gets transferred to the freeholder. You don’t want to lose your home because of this! If you have less than 90 years remaining on your lease, you really should be looking at extending it.
By letting the lease go down to less than 90 years, it can make your property harder to deal with in the housing market. It will have a negative impact on the property’s value, and it can prove more difficult to sell or remortgage the property in the future. In addition, the longer you leave to consider extending your lease, the more expensive it will be to do so.
Statutory and Voluntary Lease Extensions
Lease extensions happen in two ways: Statutory and Voluntary, but which one will you need? A statutory lease extension is available when you have owned the property outright for over two years and this allows you to extend your current lease by 90 years. In contrast, a voluntary lease extension is when the landlord will determine all the terms of the extension including how much you pay and the length of the extension, however these can be negotiated by your solicitor.
How much will a lease extension cost?
This varies on a number of factors, from how long is left on the current lease to whether you are going through a statutory or voluntary lease extension. Cavendish Legal Group’s lease extension specialists can help you with this and any questions you may have. Contact our team today!
