To buy a cheaper property with a short lease that needs extending. Is it a good or a bad idea?

[Somethingsgotthagive]

Not actively buying anything but came across a few nice properties within our budget with a lease of 93ish years, which makes me a bit nervous. I watch Phil and Kirstie a lot (lol) and I noticed how they often advise their clients in the show to get a bargain and then extend the lease themselves. Is this something worth considering in the real world? How does it realistically work and how much does it normally cost?
I am completely new to the house buying market but have no idea!

I don't think 93 is that bad. You will have to extend before it gets to 80 years left

@biedrona but feels bad compared to many at 900+ years, especially if we plan on living there for a few years. How much does it cost to extend it and can any property be extended to 999 yrs?

80 is usually considered the cut off so 93 would be OK, if a bit dicey depending on your mortgage situation (if you're planning on keeping it for 20 years and will need to remortgage in this time, or selling in say 10 years time you will definitely need to extend the lease). This article explains everything really well including costs.

https://hoa.org.uk/advice/guides-for-homeowners/i-am-buying/buying-a-flat-with-a-short-lease/

When I sold my flat I rolled up lease extension into sale.

That was some time ago though. So they paid x, I got y, z went for the extension.

I know someone whose fell below 80 years and it cost 10% of the property price to renew

around 80 yrs most wont lend on it. the shorter the lease the more expensive to renew.

other problems are possible service charges etc

By short I meant like between 90 and 120 years. Is it possible to easily extend it to 999 or can it only formally be done to 125?
And are we talking 5K to extend it or 20K?

I believe you need to have owned the property for two years before you gain the right to extend a lease. If it's over 80 years then there are lots of online calculators that will give you a rough guide:
https://www.zerodown.lease/extension/60-seconds?gad_source=1&gclid=Cj0KCQjwztOwBhD7ARIsAPDKnkCFOjMD5Gb_Z44L43I1bxr1PswkmGdd0PPXzsJ9yET_u_Xmft7yRxYaAizCEALw_wcB

You'd need proper legal advice as well.

@PragmaticWench thank you. The website doesn't seem to tell you how much it will actually cost but will look into it. I would defo seek legal advice but we haven't even found a property so I just wanted to understand whether these properties are even worth considering and how long can a lease be extended by etc

Might be worth reposting on the legal board on here.

Basically it costs whatever the freeholder wants to charge (Within reason, you can take it to a court or some form of legal mediation to argue it if you're not in agreement I believe)

Worth just contacting the freeholder and asking for a price before you buy, it can be done during the purchase process. Mine was around that long left, so I bought the freehold for £1000. Was very simple, once my solicitor could actually track down who owned the lease.

It is likely to cost 1000d to up a lease though, it's defo not a cheap option op