Shared ownership property and lease!!

[Pandapop101]

Hi, hoping someone has had some experience with this and may be able to offer advice!
We bought our shared ownership home 7 years ago with 80 years remaining on the lease.
Nothing was explained to us regarding the lease, with hindsight we should of investigated what this really meant but we were so grateful to get on the property ladder.
We are now trying to sell our 50% share with 73years left on the lease and it seems like it could cause us some problems.
While we are not sure yet it looks like it may devalue the house or possibly we may struggle to find a buyer who is able to get a mortgage.
We looked into extending and we have to pay £600 for a lease extension surveyor to give us a quote on how much it will cost which is likely to be tens of thousands of pounds!
Anyone had any recent experience with this?

Thanks

I think property becomes unmortgageable when there’s 68 years left on the lease. At 73 years, you’ll have to extend the lease, or see your property seriously devalued. I have a friend who extended her lease on a flat, which cost £14k - legal costs were reduced as several in her purpose built block did it at once. I’m not sure how many years she had left, but do know that, the shorter the lease, the more expensive it is to renew. Hers isn’t shared ownership, but I think it’d be the same for any leasehold property.

Thank you! I think we are going to investigate the cost of it.
It’s turning into a huge nightmare that we just were not aware of!

Sorry you’re in this situation - your solicitor should’ve advised you properly, as that’s what you pay them for! Hope the lease extension won’t be too expensive.