How To Extend Your Lease – Solicitors and Surveyors

Do I need to use both a Solicitor and a Valuer?How To Extend Your Lease - Solicitors and Surveyors

We think the answer is yes to both! When looking to extend your lease, you definitely need a specialist valuer to establish how much the reversionary interest is worth to the landlord and how much your extension will affect this value. This lease extension valuation will then give you an idea of what amount to propose in your initial notice to the landlord and will give the potential scope for negotiations. If you are using the statutory route to extend the lease on your flat, then your definite going to need a solicitor – because essential that https://www.extendingalease.co.uk/how-to-extend-lease/the timetable and procedure are followed to the letter – or your application could fail entirely. And although you can, in theory, manage your informal lease extension without a solicitor, we strongly advise against it. You’re far more vulnerable to being exploited ripped off by unscrupulous freeholder with an informal lease extension – where they set the rules and can change the deal at any stage.

And in any event, if your flat is subject to a mortgage, then you will also need to involve the mortgage company – and we would normally expect them to refuse to let you try and extend your lease yourself and instead insist that you appoint a solicitor to make sure it’s done properly.

Thinking of extending your lease ? Looking for Specialist Solicitors and Valuers ? Call us on FREEPHONE 0800 1404544 for FREE Initial Phone Advice.

What will my surveyor do?

When it comes to extending a lease, a valuer/surveyor will normally complete the following tasks:

  • Give you a best case scenario (lowest amount you can expect to pay by way of a premium) and worst case scenario (highest amount that you can expect to pay) on how much it will cost to extend your lease
  • Advise you upon what your best possible outcome from negotiations will be;
  • Indicate what price you should put forward in the initial notice;
  • Advise upon what reply to give to a counter-notice from the landlord; and
  • Help you by giving expert evidence in the unlikely event that your case ends up in the First Tier Property Tribunal (previously the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal or LVT).

However any lease extension can be complex and it is likely that you will need legal assistance when negotiating with your landlord over any premiums payable.

What will my solicitor actually do?

Any application to extend your lease involves a complex area of law. In particular there are some very tight time limits – and some unscrupulous landlords know how to play the rules. So when you come to appoint a solicitor, make sure that you get someone who specialises in lease extensions and really understands this complex field.

When you apply to extend your lease, your solicitor will normally complete the following tasks on your behalf:

  • Confirm that you satisfy the criteria – whether or not you can extend your lease
  • explain the process to advance – how to extend your lease
  • Prepare all the relevant information for your initial notice application;
  • Service the initial notice upon the ‘competent landlord’ and forward copies to all other landlords;
  • Negotiate the legal documentation;
  • Complete the legal conveyance of your new lease including making sure that the newly extended term is recorded at the Land Registry

Considering trying to extend your lease – speak to us today

Don’t forget that your initial phone consultation with us will cost you nothing and set you on the right road. So if you want to know more about how to extend your lease, for FREE initial phone advice call us now: