Residential conveyancing news: Now could be a good time to renew leases

Posted 11/10/2010

People who are currently living in a leasehold property may find that now is a good time to contact a residential conveyancing solicitor and renew the lease.

This is the advice of financial expert Lorna Bourke, writing for CityWire, who said anyone with a leasehold flat or maisonette may benefit from the recent fall in house prices if they do.

Figures released this week by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors showed that property prices in the UK fell for the third month in a row during September 2010.

“If the price falls, the sum you have to pay to extend your lease is lower too,” Ms Bourke explained, suggesting that those with around 80 years remaining on the lease may be in the best position to do so.

The expert added: “If the flat is now worth 20 per cent less than a couple of years ago, you should pay 20 per cent less to extend the lease.”

She urged anyone thinking of altering the lease on their home to contact a solicitor specialising in residential property in order to do so, as the process can be complex.

Leasehold means that you own a property for a fixed amount of time, but not the land on which it is built and most leaseholders have the right to extend their agreement for another 90 years under the 1993 Leasehold Reform Act.