has my friend has been ripped off?

[thefruitwhisperer]

Probably should post in legal but want quick answer. She bought a flat 4 years ago, and now the lease is up for renewal. Somehow she has 80 years left on it which means she has to pay the marriage value. Its something like £10k.

Im outraged for her, she only bought it 4 years ago so why didnt a survey show it had only 84 years left (Im also thinking, why didnt she bloody ask, but its done now...)

And why did her solicitor not mention that in 4 years time, she'd have to renew the lease. Or even mention negotiating the renewal before she bought it!

Also, if she'd renewed as soon as she could have done (2 years being a tenant) there would have been more than 80 years and she'd have got a better renewal price.

Is there anything that can be done? Any governing body's that can give advice? Or perhaps shes not been ripped off/ill advised and its her own fault for not asking?

Why does she need to renew the lease if there are still 80 years left to run? This is still a good length...

It probably should have been mentioned by the conveyancer dealing with the purchase, ours raised this with us when we were buying - there was only 72 years left and were told this would make it difficult to sell or remortgage on in the future. The vendor ended up covering the cost of extending the lease.

I suppose it depends how long she is going to stay - length of the lease doesn't necessarily matter if she's going to be staying there for the rest of her life.

All the other residents of the block of flats can apply to buy the lease afaik - maybe that would be an option?

Lenders don't like lending on leases less than 70 years I was told, it would limit who the purchaser would be able to lend from. Also as the lease decreases further the marriage value increases and op's friend will have even more to pay to extend the lease.

I would definately make enquiries as to whether the £10kmis accurate. It only cost £350 + vat to extend and change the terms of our lease.

She'll be moving within 10 years, thats for sure, so leaving it isnt an option (although I mentioned that as a way round it becuase it means she takes the £££ fall at the end and not now)

I thought 80 was the amount you needed to think about renewing at (ie before it gets expensive because of the mrriage value and as it has a detrimental effect on sale price) and that it will be flagged on the survey if its less than 100?

I dont know much about the laws myself tbh, was hoping to get some advice to give her. Citizens Advice couldnt help, could they?

There is somewhere that leaseholders can go for advice - I'll try to find a link

Here: www.lease-advice.org/

She needs to talk to her mortgage lender as they must have known the number of years left on the lease (and TBH I'm surprised that she didn't, or that her solicitor wouldn't have raised it) and lent on that basis.

She also might be able to get free legal advice from her mortgage insurance to see if the extension price is reasonable.

Who is the freeholder? That would make a difference. There is as fortyplus a freehold/leasehold advice service - if ConDem haven't scrapped it!

TBH I don't think £10k is hugely expensive for a long extension dependent on location and property type.

I used to work in a bank dealing with mortages and the rule (2 years ago) was that when you bouht a leasehold property the lease has to be 35 years after the mortgage term(ie. 25 year mortgage and 35 year lease so 60 years). 85 years doesn't seem too bad a term, she could still sell with the lease that term.