About to place a bid on a leasehold flat in Mapperley. The property agents tell me that it is the norm for flats in Mapperley to have less than 75 years unexpired on the lease. I am obtaining a mortgage with The Mortgage Works. Will the property be mortgageable given that the lease has 72 years remaining.
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are obtaining a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. The Mortgage Works have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 22/7/2024 the requirements read as follows :
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
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 70 years
- 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 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 70 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 1.0% 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
- 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
- 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 reviewed and altered on any review basis or methodology
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 1.0% 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 the Issuing Office
Is it necessary to take out insurance to protect me from financial exposure to chancel repairs when buying a residence in Mapperley?
Unless a previous purchase of the premises took place after 12 October 2013 you can expect lawyers delivering conveyancing in Mapperley to continue to advocate a chancel search and or insurance against a claim.
I am buying my first flat in Mapperley with a mortgage from Bank of Scotland. The builders refused to budge the amount so I negotiated five thousand pounds worth of extras instead. The estate agent told me not to tell my solicitor about this extras as it would put at risk my loan with the lender. Do I keep my lawyer in the dark?.
All lenders require a Disclosure of Incentives Form from the developer of any new build, converted or renovated property, It is available online from the Lenders’ Handbook page on the CML website. CML form is completed and handed to the lender's surveyor when the inspection is done.
Lenders have different policies on incentives. Some accept none at all, cash or physical, while others will accept cash incentives up to 5%.
Hard to understand why the representative of a builder would be suggesting you withold information from a solicitor when all this will be clearly visible on forms the builder has to supply to its solicitor, the buyer's solicitor and the surveyor.
I am looking for a flat up to £195,000 and identified one round the corner in Mapperley I like with amenity areas and railway links nearby, the downside is that it's only got 49 years unexpired on the lease. There is not much else in Mapperley in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?
Should you need a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Discount the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the premises for at least twenty four months you could ask them to commence the lease extension formalities and pass it to you. You can add 90 years to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor about this matter.
My husband and I are new on the property ladder - agreed a price, yet the estate agent told us that the vendor will only go ahead if we use the agent's recommended lawyers as they are insisting on an ‘expedited deal’. We would rather use a family solicitor with experience of conveyancing in Mapperley
We suspect that the owner is not behind this ultimatum. If they require ‘a quick sale', turning down a motivated buyer is is going to put the whole deal at risk. Contact the vendors directly and make the point that (a)you are keen to buy (b)you are excited to move forward, with mortgage lined up © you are chain free (d) you intend to proceed fast (e)but you will continue to instruct your own,trusted Mapperley conveyancing solicitors - not the ones that will provide their negotiator at the agency a kickback or meet his conveyancing figures demanded by head office.
I would like to rent out my leasehold flat in Mapperley. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Do I need to ask my freeholder for their consent?
A small minority of properties in Mapperley do contain a provision to say that subletting is only allowed with permission. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to review references. Experience suggests that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting permission.
I purchased a split level flat in Mapperley, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Comparable flats in Mapperley with over 90 years remaining are worth £190,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2086
With 62 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £17,100 and £19,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.
The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.