How To Get Started On Extending A Lease
The Leasehold Reform Act 1993 provides that leaseholders are able to extend their lease for a further 90 years, by law on top of the term that they already have left on the agreement. This extension also means they do not have to pay ground rent on the lease.
The lease extension process is kicked off by the tenant servicing notice on the landlord (Tenants Notice), once this is served on the freeholder the whole process is quite documented.
The initial qualifying criteria for getting a lease extension is that the flat must have been owned by the tenant for a minimum of 2 years and the lease should have initially been grated as a 'long lease' (i.e. 21 years or longer). There is no formal need for the leaseholder to have lived in the property for those two years. In light of this, if a tenant has owned their flat for 2 years and took the lease on for more than 21 years in the first place, they should be entitled to an extension. This rule is not set and fast however, and often tenants will find themselves eligible where they didn't think they were and unfortunately visa versa. Because of this you should always seek out specialist legal advice before anything else.
You should know that once you have served the Tenants Notice this actually an assignable right, therefore you can sell this right with the flat. This consequently means that the leaseholder can serve the notice and sell their property at the same time adding value to the sale. This will improve the salability of the flat.
Before you start the lease extension process you should make sure that you have enough money under your belt. You will not be able to extend your lease if you do not have sufficient money to do so. Part of the money you will need to raise is; your solicitor's fees, your surveyor/valuers fees and all the landlords fees for the same services. When dealing with these professionals, you need to know that everyday high street solicitors and valuers will not do lease extensions very often, if at all. Due to this, you will need to make sure that you dealing with a specialist in the area of extending a lease.
Extending a lease is not a quick process. It often takes up to 6 months to complete and can be even longer where a landlord refuses your offer and you have to bring a claim before the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. Irelevant of this, as a leaseholder getting an extension can gain you money in the future.
About the Author
Bonallack & Bishop are lawyers specialising in helping you extend your lease (http://www.extendingalease.co.uk ). For advice on extending a lease, then contact them today. Senior Partner Tim Bishop is responsible for all major strategic decisions at the firm, which he has grown by 1000% in 13 years and Tim sees himself as a businessman who owns a law firm.
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