Luxury apartment in one of London’s finest and most expensive locations available to buy for less than £100,000 BUT there is a catch….

Would you like to live in one of London’s most exclusive locations and be able to count Nigella Lawson and the Duchess of York, Sarah Ferguson as one of your neighbours? Well now you can, as a property in the illustrious Belgravia area is being sold at auction with a guide price of just £90,000. This represents a massive saving on the usual property prices, which sell for an average of £7 million.

Sounds too good to be true? Well unfortunately it is, as there is only 13 months left on the lease which means that you will either have to leave the property permanently in June 2018 or pay £900,000 to the freeholder, the Duke of Westminster, to extend the lease by another 20 years.

Whilst it may be true that most of us cannot afford to purchase a property in Belgravia in the first place, this case highlights how the length of your lease can have a dramatic impact on the market value of your property.

This is of particular significance to the thousands of leaseholders, up and down the country, who own properties which are let on long leases similar to the property in Belgravia. With leases that depreciate in term and value with every year that passes, it is now recommended that any tenants with such a property, begin to consider extending the lease around the 90 year mark as prices shoot up when the term falls below 80 years.

The length of the lease term will not only have a direct bearing on the market value of the property but it will also have an impact on your ability to sell or re-mortgage it, as a lot of mortgage providers are reluctant or will even refuse to lend money for a property with a low lease term.

If you own a flat or house which is let on a long lease similar to the property above, our team of specialist solicitors at Attwaters Jameson Hill Solicitors can assist you in extending your lease. Under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, you are entitled to extend your lease by a further 90 years plus the unexpired term.

We can help you to determine how long you have left on your lease, discuss your options in relation to extending the term and be able to guide you through the whole process from start to finish.

In the case of lease extensions, time really is of the essence and putting off getting the lease extended will only cost you more in the long run. Call our team today on 020 3871 0141 and we will be happy to discuss your options with you.