If you’re looking for a lease extension, our highly experienced Lease Enfranchisement specialists offer high-quality lease extension services to those in Croydon and the nearby area.
For Croydon lease extensions, please email or call our team.
As Croydon goes through a period of rapid redevelopment, the number of leasehold properties and apartments is rising, making them a more typical building type in the area. Whether you’re new to leases or have had many leasehold properties over the years, our team at Copeland Yussuf can help you manage the property and save you money through a lease extension.
Our team of lease extension surveyors in Croydon can help you through the entire process of extending your lease, helping you reach a fair and beneficial outcome for your situation. Contact our Croydon branch today, or read on to learn more about your right to extend your lease.
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What is a lease extension?
A lease extension allows you to add more years to your current lease term, meaning it will last longer before it expires. Ownership of leasehold interest is not infinite, and your leasehold could expire if you let the remaining term length run down to zero. When this happens, the property will return to the freeholder as you surrender ownership.
Getting a lease extension in Croydon prevents this from happening, prolonging your term so you can experience many different benefits. Although you have to pay for a lease extension, getting one can help you save money over the coming years and help you achieve a higher profit when you come to sell the property.
As a leaseholder in Croydon, you have the automatic right to extend your lease period with little resistance from your freeholder. As long as you meet the eligibility criteria of The Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (the 1993 act), the freeholder cannot deny you a lease extension.
Due to this legislation, you’re entitled by law to add an extra 90 years to the lease of any flats you may own or 50 years if the property is a house. To get this, you must follow a specific process laid out by the 1993 act, ensuring that you take the necessary steps to make everything legal.
This is where our lease extension surveyors in Croydon can help, as we can guide you through the process, offering a quality service along the way.
What does a lease extension surveyor in Croydon do?
A lease surveyor performs many tasks and has many responsibilities during the process that can help you with a lease extension, which is why they’re an essential part of getting a lease extension. At various points of the lease extension process, a surveyor is required for you to continue, so it’s crucial to get a quality surveyor like Copeland Yussuf for the best experience.
The main thing that a lease extension surveyor in Croydon will do is complete an in-depth property valuation. Here, a surveyor will evaluate your leasehold to determine how much it would be worth if it was listed on the market for sale.
This isn’t done so that you can sell your property; instead, the purpose of getting a valuation is so it can be used to inform how much your lease extension will cost. The price you pay for a lease extension is tied to the value of your property, so this step is vital to ensure that you get an accurate and fair cost.
As well as this, a lease extension surveyor in Croydon will also be responsible for getting a solicitor to send your Section 42 Notice. This document you send to your freeholder lets them know that you want to extend your lease, and it also includes how much you’re willing to pay for it based on your valuation.
A lease extension solicitor can also help draft the perfect Section 42 Notice, ensuring it includes all the needed information. They can also help you negotiate a lower price for your lease extension with your landlord. A surveyor is the only person permitted to value your property and give you a premium price, so you’ll need to hire (officially known as instruct) one at this process stage.
During the process, a lease extension surveyor in Croydon can also help you through any legal issues and court proceedings. Our surveyors at Copeland Yussuf do everything per the 1993 Act, and we work hard to ensure its guidelines are enforced throughout the process.
What can a lease extension in Croydon do for you?
When getting a lease extension in Croydon with the support of our lease extension surveyors, you’ll be able to access many great benefits that can make owning a leasehold a much better proposition than before.
The most significant benefit of getting a lease extension in Croydon is that it can dramatically increase your property’s value.
The value of your property drops the less time there is left on a lease, meaning as the years tick on by, your house will depreciate. To illustrate, if you decide to sell your property with 85 years left on your lease, it will be worth a lower price than if you have a lease of 150 years or more. Although a lease extension can be a large expense, the increase in value can make it worth it and help you obtain an overall profit when you sell your property.
Also, getting a lease extension in Croydon can cause your ground rent to drop to zero. Leaseholders that bought their lease before June 2022 must pay ground rent, an annual fee paid directly to the freeholder. This has since been abolished, and new and extended leases don’t have this expense. As a result, if you get a lease extension in Croydon, you can reduce your ground rent to a nominal amount. Doing this can help save money over the years and is worth it if you plan on living in the leasehold for many years.
Another significant advantage of getting a lease extension in Croydon is that it can make it easier to sell your property. Potential buyers will have more limited mortgage options if the leasehold property has less than 80 years to run, as it’s deemed too risky by many providers. If you decide to sell your lease with a remaining term below 80 years, you’ll limit the potential pool of people who can buy it. This can make it harder to sell.
If you extend your lease before this point, you’ll find selling your property in Croydon easier and will likely get more for it.
Be sure to extend your lease before your hit this 80-year mark. Getting an extension with less than 80 years left on the term can cause you to pay far more than usual, as you’ll have to contribute 50% of your marriage value.
Your marriage value is the amount the property valuation increases after a lease extension. So, if your lease extension causes the property’s value to rise by £26,000, you’ll have to pay £13,000 to your freeholder on top of your premium.
The risk of paying some of your marriage value is why getting a lease extension early is crucial, as it can help you save a lot of money.
The Croydon Lease Extension Process
Laid out by the 1993 act, a specific process needs to be followed when getting a lease extension in Croydon. Our team at Copeland Yussuf are experts on this process and can help you through it seamlessly to help make it less stressful.
Before you start, you must check that you’re eligible for a lease extension via the statutory route. If you need more clarification, a surveyor can determine this for you. Once you know your eligibility status, you can take the first step in getting your lease extension.
Step 1. Hire a Croydon surveyor
Once you know you’re eligible for a lease extension in Croydon, you’ll need to next instruct a surveyor to inspect your property and determine an accurate valuation. The surveyor can determine how much a lease extension will cost and how much you should offer with this valuation.
Step 2. Section 42 Notice
After this, you must serve a Section 42 Notice to your freeholder. This notice ensures that your freeholder knows that you intend to extend your lease and should also contain the amount you’ll pay for it.
Step 3. Freeholder Response
Once delivered, the freeholder has two months to respond to your Section 42 Notice. You’ll get your reply through a Section 45 Notice, where they either agree to the price or suggest a different amount.
Step 4. Pay deposit
If both parties have agreed to a price, you’ll pay a deposit to confirm the lease extension. This deposit will either cost £250 or 10% of the total lease extension, depending on what’s more expensive. This deposit needs to be paid within 14 days, with the rest due later.
Step 5. First Tier Tribunal
If your offered amount is rejected and you can’t reach an agreement within six months of negotiations, you’ll need to apply for the case to be resolved at a Top Tier Tribunal. If you reach this stage, the court will decide the cost of your lease extension, which must be accepted.
This entire process can take up to 12 months, so starting early is important so you have plenty of time. Using an experienced surveyor like Copeland Yussuf can help you streamline the process.
Also, be aware that there are additional steps to follow and documents you need to obtain if you’re paying a mortgage on the leasehold property.
Why choose Copeland Yussuf in Croydon?
There’s no better choice in the Croydon area for those who need a lease extension surveyor. We’ve worked in the area for several years, helping numerous customers and clients achieve their desired outcomes. Our Chartered Surveyors are talented, experienced, and dedicated to offering you the best experience possible.
We’ve cultivated a great reputation in the Croydon area and have become the selected panel surveyors for many housing groups and councils in the borough.
We’re registered by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), meaning we operate to the highest standard in the industry. Our valuations are trustworthy and accurate, with our methods adhering to the guidance in the 1993 act.
We offer multiple lease extension services to help you get the most out of the process. No matter your situation, we can:
- Review your eligibility for a lease extension
- Inspect your property and create an accurate valuation
- Help you determine and negotiate a good price for your lease extension
- Provide the necessary assistance in a First Tier Tribunal
We’re experts in Lease Enfranchisement, the overarching area that lease extensions fall under, so we are well-versed and experienced with this service. Contact us today to see how we can help you.
Lease Extension Croydon FAQs
Do you need a lease extension surveyor?
A lease extension surveyor is needed at many stages of the lease extension process. They're required when getting a valuation for your property so that you can work out an accurate cost for your lease extension.
You also need a lease extension surveyor to send your Section 42 Notice, and they can help you draft it. Getting a lease extension surveyor is not optional and is a requirement in this process, so make sure you choose the best one to guarantee a pleasant process.
What's the difference between a statutory and informal lease extension?
A statutory lease extension is where you have the right to extend your lease per the 1993 act. Getting a lease extension this way allows you to expand your lease by 90 years, and your freeholder cannot reject your request.
The price for the lease extension is also informed by the property value, making it easier to know how much you owe. However, you can only get this lease extension if you're eligible. If you aren't, you'll have to go the informal route.
You have no protection from the 1993 act if you go the informal route. This means the freeholder can charge inflated prices, decide by how many years they're willing to extend your lease, or flat-out refuse the extension.
Am I eligible for a lease extension in Croydon?
To have the right to get a lease via the statutory route, you need to have been the leaseholder for more than two years, and the original lease term when you bought it must have been larger than 21 years old.
You also can't get a statutory lease extension if the freeholder is a charity or if you own a commercial lease.
How much does getting a lease extension cost?
The price of a lease extension can vary drastically, costing from under £1000 to more than £25,000 depending on various factors. It's impossible to work out an accurate price without knowing the details of your property and lease.
When inspecting your property, a surveyor will consider various factors influencing the total cost of your lease extension. This includes:
- How much your freeholder's interest decreases because of the additional years added
- The amount the property's value increases by
- How much your ground rent cost as that has to be compensated
- The location of your property, as that influences its value
- The number of years you have remaining on your lease
As well as these fees, you'll also have to pay your surveyor for their services. You may also have to cover any legal expenses your freeholder accrued, as you're liable. Also, remember that you may have to pay half of your marriage value if your lease had less than 80 years to run.
Can you get multiple lease extensions in succession?
A lease on a single property can be extended multiple times, but you will have to pay each time you do so.
That said, it's unlikely that you'll need to make more than one extension for a property. This is because the years added are so large that you'll likely have sold your property before the lease reduces to a term where it's viable to extend the lease.
If you got a short-term extension by going the informal route, you may need to extend it again after a few years.
What's the difference between a freehold and a leasehold property?
There are some key differences between a freehold and a leasehold property.
In a freehold, the freeholder owns both the land and the property indefinitely, only relinquishing ownership when they sell the freehold.
A leasehold is where you only own the property, not the land, and do so for a set period of time. When this period expires, you must hand back ownership to the freeholder. This is why many people find lease extensions valuable.
A leaseholder will likely have more restrictions on what can be done to the property, and if you bought it before June 30 2022, you'll also have to pay your freeholder ground rent.
Can a freeholder refuse a leasehold extension in Croydon?
As long as you're extending your lease through the statutory route and are following the 1993 act, you have the right to a lease extension of 90 years, regardless of what the freeholder prefers. They can disagree with the price and negotiate for six months to try and get a better deal, but ultimately they must accept.
You can only have your proposal rejected if you don't meet the eligibility criteria and are getting an informal extension. In this scenario, you have no legal protection, and the freeholder has the power to set their own terms and reject the lease extension.
What if I can't get hold of the freeholder?
Having a freeholder that's hard to contact can make the process take longer. This is because you need to send a Section 42 Notice, so being unable to do this can cause things to stall.
Thankfully, you can get a Vesting Order allowing you to continue without them and get a valuation from the court, but you first need to prove that you've tried to contact the freeholder before this measure.
You'll need to do things like place an ad in the newspaper, hire a search agent, visit their last known address, and search the probate records before you can apply for a Vesting Order. This can increase the overall costs of getting a lease extension.
How common are leasehold properties in Croydon?
According to government data, In 2021, 8% of all houses were leaseholds across the UK. This means this property type takes up a small percentage of the property market. However, when looking at just flats and apartments, about 58% of these across the country were leaseholds.
They're more common as flats because the entire building each unit is in will using be owned by a freeholder, and each unit will be sold under a lease.
In Croydon, there's an increase in flats and apartments here, meaning leasehold properties are and will become even more common in the borough. This means that if you're buying or selling property in the area, you have an increased chance of coming across a leasehold than in other regions of the country.
Is there a minimum requirement on how long a lease extension has to be?
The amount you can extend your lease via a statutory lease extension is 90 years for a flat or 50 years for a house, making this both the minimum and maximum you can extend by.
However, if you're getting an informal lease extension, there is no minimum amount your lease must be extended. This can be a problem, as it's better to get as long an extension as possible to help increase the worth of the property.
Our Croydon Lease Extension Experts are ready to help
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We offer a tailored experience, working around your needs to ensure the lease extension process is stress-free.
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