The nervous wait to exchange....

[Lonewolf]

Further to my previous post I need some more advice perhaps based on any experience.

My flat is an ex council property which has just over 102 years lease left. The estate agent who valued my flat suggested I get a lease extension to maximise any potential buyers. Now, the broker who gave me advise on my next property purchase thought the lease didn't need an extension and neither did the property management officer at the council.
From any experience gained buying or selling a flat, is a 102 year old lease long enough for mortgage lenders?

Also, if an extension is the best course, how much for a chartered surveyor to value a property, lease extension cost and solicitor fees for doing the legwork?

 

[Mason-]

Further to my previous post I need some more advice perhaps based on any experience.

My flat is an ex council property which has just over 102 years lease left. The estate agent who valued my flat suggested I get a lease extension to maximise any potential buyers. Now, the broker who gave me advise on my next property purchase thought the lease didn't need an extension and neither did the property management officer at the council.
From any experience gained buying or selling a flat, is a 102 year old lease long enough for mortgage lenders?

Also, if an extension is the best course, how much for a chartered surveyor to value a property, lease extension cost and solicitor fees for doing the legwork?

It’s fine. Mortgage lenders usually want mortgage term +50 years of lease. Most people mortgage at 25 or 30 years, which corresponds to 75 and 80 years of lease.

 

[BongoHunter]

Further to my previous post I need some more advice perhaps based on any experience.

My flat is an ex council property which has just over 102 years lease left. The estate agent who valued my flat suggested I get a lease extension to maximise any potential buyers. Now, the broker who gave me advise on my next property purchase thought the lease didn't need an extension and neither did the property management officer at the council.
From any experience gained buying or selling a flat, is a 102 year old lease long enough for mortgage lenders?

Also, if an extension is the best course, how much for a chartered surveyor to value a property, lease extension cost and solicitor fees for doing the legwork?

I would extend something with say 60 years left, wouldn't bother for anything 80+

 

[RobHu]

Further to my previous post I need some more advice perhaps based on any experience.

My flat is an ex council property which has just over 102 years lease left. The estate agent who valued my flat suggested I get a lease extension to maximise any potential buyers. Now, the broker who gave me advise on my next property purchase thought the lease didn't need an extension and neither did the property management officer at the council.
From any experience gained buying or selling a flat, is a 102 year old lease long enough for mortgage lenders?

Also, if an extension is the best course, how much for a chartered surveyor to value a property, lease extension cost and solicitor fees for doing the legwork?

Mortgage wise it will be fine (unless the ground rent is over £250 p/a or 0.1% of the value of the property). Whether it puts off potential buyers is the question. It shouldn't but in recent years attitudes toward leaseholds have dramatically changed. As to how much it will cost to extend, as you have over 80 years left it will depend mostly on the value of the ground rent. There's no prescribed formula unfortunately but there are online calculators that give a rough guess. Remember you'll have to pay both yours and your freeholders ('reasonable') legal fees. The best route would be to do a formal (statutory) extension which will reduce any ground rent to 0 (peppercorn) and add 90 years to the lease. With an informal extension you run the risk of the freeholder being a scumbag and trying to insert onerous clauses into the lease, keep the ground rent above 0 etc.

 

[Macstorm]

I would extend something with say 60 years left, wouldn't bother for anything 80+

you need to do it before it drops below 80 years as thats the cut off to avoid having to pay marriage value ie half the difference between the value of the lease as it is and the value with an extended lease. Also do not even think about doing it informally, the formal process should give you a ground rent of £0 and stop the freeholder putting in really bad restrictive covenents.

There have been some cases of the lease extension making it more difficult to sell due to doubling ground rents every x number of years

 

[ash_scotland88]

Found out lost out on a property today (better offers) Listed building, needed modernisation, acre of land including small wooded area, edge of town down a farm track and outlook over the fields and hills. Will be hard to bounce back from that property. To say I've been in a sulk all day is an understatement.

 

[Nathan]

We have sold ours straight after lockdown and have agreed a purchase on new property, it’s absolutely stunning. Issue is first direct. They have said due to unprecedented demand we re looking at 10 weeks for mortgage completion

 

[roge8014]

10 weeks??!! We accepted an offer on our house two weeks ago, DIP was done four days after offer, our mortgage survey is being done today (remote video survey due to the "low loan amount" - pffft, doesn't feel that low to me!), so I expect a formal offer sometime next week early the following week at worst (assuming no issues with the survey - not expecting any). This is with Coventry BS. Our problem may be with the other people in the chain if they are having to wait 10 weeks for mortgage completion?

 

[The_Arbiter]

@Lonewolf

I was set on buying a flat before i crumbled and bought a house, (didn't want the maintenance hassle). Flats, maisonettes, etc i was only interested in 1000yr leases with transparent paperwork.
Decent flats, often ex council, long leases with decent rates are far and few between in my area. I actually found some places were priced up to £30k over and under true value.
2yrs later, those leases that are overvalued are still on the market. The others were sold in a week.

 

[ChrisD.]

We have sold ours straight after lockdown and have agreed a purchase on new property, it’s absolutely stunning. Issue is first direct. They have said due to unprecedented demand we re looking at 10 weeks for mortgage completion

Can't you go to another lender? It's not like there's a shortage of them.

 

[Lonewolf]

@Lonewolf

I was set on buying a flat before i crumbled and bought a house, (didn't want the maintenance hassle). Flats, maisonettes, etc i was only interested in 1000yr leases with transparent paperwork.
Decent flats, often ex council, long leases with decent rates are far and few between in my area. I actually found some places were priced up to £30k over and under true value.
2yrs later, those leases that are overvalued are still on the market. The others were sold in a week.

Another flat similar to mine and on the same development but with a 50 year longer lease sold before hitting the market. Estate agent told me there is a queue waiting to buy around here, maybe I'll be OK. Fingers crossed

 

[mid_gen]

Now entering month number 8 since we had our offer accepted

Anyone else enjoying a glacial transaction?

 

[Nathan]

Can't you go to another lender? It's not like there's a shortage of them.

half way through a fixed term, some quick maths mean that if I do not port we are about 2k out of pocket so worth the extra month wait I think. First direct need more staff, simply put.

 

[Mason-]

Now entering month number 8 since we had our offer accepted

Anyone else enjoying a glacial transaction?

When I bought the flat I’m in now. My offer was accepted November and we completed in May there was no COVID though. I thought that was long!

Whats the reason for your delay? COVID?

 

[mid_gen]

When I bought the flat I’m in now. My offer was accepted November and we completed in May there was no COVID though. I thought that was long!

Whats the reason for your delay? COVID?

I'm a FTB so start of the chain. Chain broke in April just before exchange due to Covid, and now the people at the other end are taking their sweet time about finding a new property.

If it wasn't such a nice unique property in a sought after location I would have given up and bought something else by now...as it is, just have to sit and wait.

 

[IvanDobskey]

Now entering month number 8 since we had our offer accepted

Anyone else enjoying a glacial transaction?

Wow and I thought our 6 months was extracting the urine!

 

[daz]

Found out lost out on a property today (better offers) Listed building, needed modernisation, acre of land including small wooded area, edge of town down a farm track and outlook over the fields and hills. Will be hard to bounce back from that property. To say I've been in a sulk all day is an understatement.

Could you have afforded more, or was your offer your financial limit? I lost out on a pretty unique early 19th century property that went to sealed bids by approx 1% when I could have gone higher, it's my one and only property regret.

 

[ash_scotland88]

Could you have afforded more, or was your offer your financial limit? I lost out on a pretty unique early 19th century property that went to sealed bids by approx 1% when I could have gone higher, it's my one and only property regret.

If the house needed less work then possibly.
It was converted into 4 1 bed flats being sold as one lot no tennents, originial single glazing sash and case, oil central heating from one boiler. We would have lived across two flats while waiting to commence work. For me the urgent requirment would have been double glazing and could have survived a winter with the heating system but I was looking into options.
The grand plan also included incorporating the out-houses that are linked to the house and roofing of a courtyard, but for me the priority was reunification and making the house as warm and economical to run as possible.

 

[Delvis]

I think I'm exceedingly impatient...Feel like I'm constantly waiting for updates from people

 

[Liquid_Entity]

Well we got the results of the structural survey and so glad we paid it because its an absolute disaster. Ticking time bomb. When I get a chance to add the list I will but let's just say... Major damp and construction issues amongst many other things.

Looks like we're back in to the market but by eck there's nothing around in our budget now with the space we were going to get.