Informal lease extension to remove doubling ground rent on shared ownership purchase?

[Silv321]

Has anyone here applied for an informal lease extension to remove a doubling ground rent clause from their shared ownership (25% in my case) lease? This would remove the risk associated with selling in the future (mortgage providers can be averse to lending on onerous ground rent clause).

I am purchasing a shared ownership in London with doubling ground rent (completing in couple weeks), vendor will not do a deed of variation to cap ground rent as this would delay the sale. Vendor is also shared ownership so they wouldn't be able to 'initiate' a statutory lease extension and pass it to me.

I am now looking the option of pursuing an informal lease extension with the housing association after I buy to remove the risk of not being able to sell in the future. That said, I'm thinking of withdrawing as there is no guarantee that the landlord would accept my request for either a deed of variation (to cap ground rent), or for an informal lease extension. 😭 The property is currently affordable and in the perfect location, near schools, and I am finalising divorce and haven't told the kids yet, so perhaps I should just go for it so that I can move on with the kids.

Any similar stories (or tips!) would be really helpful.

Join the national leasehold campaign on FB, lots of advice on there.

I have been involved in a lot of lease extensions and housing associations actually tend to be very far and transparent about what they will and wont do i.e. much easier to deal with than ground rent investors. I would suggest checking the associations website and searching for their lease extension policy, or contacting them to know in advance if they would cap the ground rent. If not, see if they will agree to a mortgagee protection clause by deed of variation. This may be an alternative that wont involve buying out the current ground rent. You might find this guide useful, good luck