Lease Extension Legal Advice

For some time now most residential flat owners have had the right to extend the term of their lease.

This is a technical and complex area of law, although a series of legislative changes have done much to simplify as well as extend the right. The right to extend a lease can be a very valuable one, as by extending the term of the lease this can have a significant
impact on the price a flat can demand when it comes to selling. For each year that passes the value of a lease diminishes, and mortgage lenders set minimum requirements for the number of years left to run on a lease both at the beginning, and the end of the mortgage term.

Accordingly, the length of the lease offered on the sale of a flat can be a determining factor on whether a prospective buyer can proceed with your property or not.

Latimer Lee can assist with your lease extension, including legal advice on the qualifying criteria.

The main ones are:

• The lease must be granted for a term of more than 21 years
• The flat must have been owned by (but not necessarily have been lived in) the person applying for the lease extension for a period of more than 2 years

but it should be noted that there are a several exceptions and special situations which can apply.

There is also a right to extend the lease of house but usually the owner of a leasehold house will apply to purchase the freehold if possible.