I am about to put a bid on a leasehold apartment in Hay On Wye. The property agents tell me that it is standard for flats in Hay On Wye to have less than 75 years remaining. I am obtaining a loan with Nationwide Building Society. Is this going to be acceptable if the lease has Seventy One years unexpired.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are securing a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Nationwide Building Society have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 9/12/2025 the requirements read as follows :
- There must be at least 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term (regardless of the length of lease at the start).
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:
Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
- Where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat and the unexpired lease term on the offer is 90 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 90 years.
New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 55 years
- Unexpired lease term less than 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period is less than or equal to 5 years
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 55 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial, etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years (Minimum 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat)
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined)
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house (does not apply to Shared Ownership)
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn Ground Rent (Annual Rent) charges
For the avoidance of doubt, any New Build properties completed but not sold pre-30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the Lease conforms to the above guidance.
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years.
Lease Extensions
We require all Lease Extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to Issuing Office.
Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.
Me and my brother own a semi-detached Victorian property in Hay On Wye. Conveyancing lawyer acted for me and Britannia. I did a free Land Registry search last week and I saw two entries: one for freehold, another for leasehold with the exact same address. If a house is not a freehold shouldn't I have been informed?
You should review the Freehold register you have again and check the Charges Register as there may be mention of a lease. The best way to be sure that you are also the registered owner of the leasehold and freehold title as well is to check (£3). It is not completely unheard of in Hay On Wye and other locations in the country and poses no real issues for owners other than when they remortgage they have to account for both freehold and leasehold interests when dealing with purchasers. You can also question the position with your conveyancing solicitor who carried out the work.
The estate agent has sent us the confirmation of our purchase of a new build flat in Hay On Wye. Conveyancing is necessary evil at the best of times but I have never purchased a new build flat before. Can you give me some examples of some of the questions asked in new build conveyancing.
Here is a sample of a few leasehold new build questions that you may expect your new-build leasehold conveyancing in Hay On Wye
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Please confirm the Lease plans are surveyor prepared. The Landlord must covenant to assume the management if the Management Company goes into liquidation or otherwise defaults in running the management scheme. Investor purchasers must be able to freely grant unsecured tenancies at market rents without requiring any consents. Will the freehold then be transferred for a nominal consideration (not exceeding £100) to the Management Company?
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Hay On Wye prior to appointing solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold overhang to the house. The surveyor advised that some mortgage companies tend not give a loan on such a property.
It varies from the lender to lender. Santander has different requirements for example to Halifax. Should you wish to call us we can look into this further via the appropriate bank. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are accustomed to dealing with flying freeholds in Hay On Wye. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Hay On Wye to see if the conveyancing costs will increase in light of this.
Do I need to be wary that brokers that I am dealing with are encouraging me to use a nationwide conveyancing firm rather than a local Hay On Wye conveyancing practice?
As is the case with lots of service providers, often recommendations from family and friends can be extremely useful or valuable. Yet there are numerous parties with a vested interest in a conveyancing deal; estate agents, financial adviser and banks might all put forward solicitors to retain. On occasion these solicitors might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but occasionally there behind the scenes commercial relationship behind the endorsement. You are at liberty to select your own conveyancer. You need to be aware that some lenders operate an approved list of conveyancers you must use for the lender aspect of your transaction.
Planning to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Hay On Wye. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Hay On Wye should include some of the following:
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Your conveyancers should enable you to have an understanding of the insurance obligations Does the lease prohibit wood flooring? Does the lease prevent you from letting out the flat, or having a home office for business Responsibility for maintaining the window frames The physical ownership of the premises. This might be the property itself but might incorporate a loft or storage are if appropriate.
I acquired a leasehold flat in Hay On Wye, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar flats in Hay On Wye with an extended lease are worth £186,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2077
With only 52 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £29,500 and £34,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.