I’m potentially looking at buying a flat for 120k-ish which has a lease which has 118 years left.

Was wondering if anyone (estate agents/flat owners etc) had any experience / knowledge of how much a flat’s value will depreciate as the lease gets shorter – plus in your experience is this lease too short to consider the property for a first time buy?

Obviously I’ll be dead before the lease runs out, but don’t want to find that the property is worth considerably less if I want to sell in a few years time, due to the lease.

It will be fine.

Pretty sure anything over 100 years is considered the norm. Banks/building societies would not hesitate to provide a mortgage etc. Not sure where the cut off point is where people think it is short perhaps around 70-80 years maybe.

i think mine had 116 years remaining of a 125 year lease when I bought mine. I didn’t even consider the question

What happens when the lease runs out?

only need to consider lease length when you get under 50 years in my opinion.

Regardless of the lease length there is a staturtory right to renew .
http://www.leaseholdadvicecentre.co.uk/Lease%20Extension.htm

although it costs you, its not a lot of money and only starts getting bigger as you go below 50 years (a function of the non-linear present value component of the price calculation)

118 is a long lease.

tomzo – if the right to renew has not been exercised and the leases expires then the property returns to the landlord. Virtually unheard of nowadays.

Hey guys, thanks for your help, it’s much appreciated.

Cheers

Joey

Actually its below 80 years when the it starts to cost money to extend as there’s no marriage value above 80. The calculations are fairly easily available at the LRT website. 118 won’t be a problem.

What’s the LRT website? I’m guessing it’s not London Regional Transport 🙂

I thinks its this one
http://www.lease-advice.org/

its the one I meant to link to above. Ignore my first link