The lease of your house will have been granted a certain number of years. The value of your lease will reduce as the number of years left on it decreases.
Once the term of your lease reduces past a certain number of years (in many cases, 75 years or less) it will be harder to find a mortgage company who is willing to lend against the property. This will make re-financing or selling your property increasingly difficult.
Many new Leasehold Houses have been drafted with onerous leasehold terms which many lenders have now refused to accept. In situations such as this, it may be imperative for you to buy the Freehold in order to be able to sell or remortgage your property.
There are three criteria that you must meet in order to qualify for enfranchisement:
Some freeholders will agree to sell their interest to a tenant without the need for a formal claim, but you should always seek professional advice before proceeding.
If a formal claim is required, the procedure is as follows:
It is advised that you obtain a professional valuation of the freehold prior to serving your notice of claim on the landlord, as the valuation mechanism set out in the relevant legislation can be complicated.
Valuation is not an exact science, and the cost of purchasing the freehold will vary depending on a number of factors including:
You will also be expected to pay the following:
A tenant has one month from the date on which the purchase price of the freehold is determined to change their mind about proceeding with leasehold enfranchisement. If the tenant decides to withdraw from the procedure at this stage, they will still be responsible for paying the landlord’s reasonable costs.
Lupton Fawcett is a highly regarded personal and commercial law firm in Yorkshire with well-established teams of Residential Property Solicitors at each of our offices.
So, if you are looking to move in and around the West Yorkshire area, call and speak to one of our knowledgeable Leeds Conveyancing Solicitors. Their intimate understanding of the local residential property market will help minimise the stress of buying your next home.
For those looking a little further south, we have a team of expert Residential Property Solicitors in Sheffield, covering the South Yorkshire region and a similarly well-informed team of Conveyancing Solicitors in York, who will use their comprehensive understanding of the North Yorkshire residential property market to ensure the process of finding your perfect home is as painless as possible.
Our Residential Property Solicitors act regularly for clients across Yorkshire including Bradford, Chesterfield, Halifax, Harrogate, Huddersfield, Rotherham, Wakefield.
As a recognised full-service law firm, we can support your needs wherever you live in England, Wales & Northern Ireland.
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Please note this information is provided by way of example and may not be complete and is certainly not intended to constitute legal advice. You should take bespoke advice for your circumstances.
Remember you can still call us on 0333 323 5292 or email us at law@luptonfawcett.law