Welcome to Extend Now!
Thinking of extending your lease or buying the freehold in North London? At Extend Now, part of Gilmartin Ley Chartered Surveyors, we provide the expert valuation advice you need. Our service does not stop with the completion of the valuation report - we have a good track record for negotiating fair settlements for our customers, and offer an excellent "after sales service".
Did you know..... the law enables you to extend your lease by 90 years e.g. if there are presently 76 years remaining, you can obtain an extension to 166 years. This applies whether or not the landlord agrees. The law does not prohibit you from agreeing other sorts of lease extensions "outside the Act" with your landlord - it is just that the only sort of lease extension the law forces your landlord to grant is the 90 year one.
Alternatively, providing you form a group with a sufficient number of the other leaseholders in the building, the law grants you the right to buy the freehold (also known as "collective enfranchisement").
While asking your freeholder / landlord to quote you a price for extending your lease is often a good starting point, don't make the mistake of assuming this is reasonable - get some valuation advice!
Is now a good time to extend my lease or buy the freehold?
The market is North London reasonably stable at the current time - house prices are only rising marginally. The good news if you own a flat or house is that house prices are predicted to rise strongly in Greater London in the near future: 3.5% next year, 6% in 2015, 7.5% in 2016 and 7.5% again in 2017 (Source: JLL research). Taking into account the 2% expected growth for this year, this growth equates to 29% in 5 years. This sort of price growth, other things being equal, would make your lease extension or collective enfranchisement considerably more expensive. Even if your lease is not nearing the 80 year mark, and provided you have the funds available, NOW is therefore an excellent time to extend your lease or buy the freehold. Call us to see how we can help get you agree a fair deal and make the process as smooth as possible.
