Richmond Lease Extension Solicitors & Surveyors

In almost every case it is RHP. Richmond Council transferred all of its homes to Richmond Housing Partnership in July 2000, and the freeholds of blocks containing Right to Buy flats went with them. If you bought your flat from the council before then, your lease passed to RHP as landlord.

We always check the freehold title at HM Land Registry before a notice is served, because a Section 42 notice served on the wrong party is not valid.

Talk to us before you do anything. Ham Close is being redeveloped by RHP and Hill Group with the council, and the council has made a compulsory purchase order to support the scheme. If your flat is being acquired, the length of your lease can affect the compensation, but paying a premium may not make financial sense.

We can look at your position in the scheme and work through the numbers with you before any notice is served.

Quite urgent, if the lease is close to or below 80 years. Many conversions on and around Richmond Hill were sold on 99 year leases, and once the term drops below 80 years marriage value becomes payable. In an area with high values that can add a significant sum.

The valuation date is fixed when the Section 42 notice is served, so serving promptly protects you against the lease shortening further during negotiations.

Because the premium is a share of the flat’s value. With identical leases, a flat worth £750,000 in Barnes will produce a much larger premium than one worth £350,000 in Whitton.

Richmond has sharp differences in value between the riverside, the town centres and the western parts of the borough. We value every flat from sales in its own street, block or estate, and we avoid relying on borough averages that would overstate or understate your figure.

Yes. Under the 1993 Act every landlord, including RHP, can recover its reasonable valuation and legal costs from the leaseholder. These are limited to what is reasonable for the work involved, and they are not payable for any tribunal proceedings.

We include an allowance for your landlord’s costs in our estimate so you can see the full picture before you start, and we query any costs that look out of line.

Often, yes. Where enough flat owners take part, the 1993 Act gives a collective right to buy the freehold. Once you own it, you can grant yourselves longer leases by agreement, usually for a nominal premium.

It involves more coordination than a single lease extension, and everyone has to agree how the building will be run afterwards. Blakes can value the freehold and Arcadia Law can handle the purchase and the new leases.

A statutory extension replaces the ground rent with a peppercorn, so the rising ground rent clause no longer applies under the new lease. That can make the flat easier to mortgage and sell, because some lenders are wary of ground rents that increase sharply.

The rising ground rent does affect the premium, because the landlord gives up that income. We value it carefully, since the assumptions used can change the final figure.

Yes. Once the Section 42 notice has been served, the benefit of it can be assigned to your buyer on completion of the sale. The buyer then takes over the claim with the valuation date already fixed.

This can help where a buyer’s lender is cautious about the remaining term. Arcadia Law can arrange the assignment as part of your sale, so the extension continues without starting again.