Are you concerned about how you’re going to sell a short lease flat in London? With short lease flats being less desirable to buyers and harder to gain mortgages for, it can be a worrying time when it comes to selling the property. In this post we’re exploring the key options available to you to help improve the sale of your short lease flat.
The majority of flats in England and Wales are sold on a leasehold basis. As they’re part of a larger building, this means the freeholder still owns the land that the entire property was built on. When you buy a leasehold flat, you purchase the ownership for a set period of time.
The longer you own the flat for, the shorter the leasehold gets. This can unfortunately be a problem when it comes to selling the property, as mortgage lenders are often reluctant to give loans to buyers who are purchasing short leasehold flats. Problems can occur when there’s less than 70 years left on the lease, with the situation getting even trickier if there’s 50 or less years left.
If the time has come for you to move on and sell your short lease flat in London, and you don’t want to be stuck with the property any longer, there are a couple of key options available to you.
Selling your short lease flat on the open market via an estate agent is tricky when it has a short lease. Most buyers will be wary of the short lease, especially if they need to acquire a mortgage to buy it, and you could get stuck with it for a long time.
1. Sell your short lease flat by extending your lease
One option open to you is to try and extend the lease on your flat by 90 years to help you sell it. A longer lease would be more desirable for buyers – but this will come at a cost to you. In addition, it can be a difficult and complicated process, so might not be worth the time, cost and energy involved.
Some leaseholds can be extended by privately negotiating with the landlord, or you may need to use the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993. Ideally, it’s recommended that you get professional help from a solicitor and surveyor who can guide you through the necessary steps you’ll need to take (although this is of course yet another cost to add to the process). .
You can get a rough idea of how much a lease extension will cost by using an online lease calculator. This is only a guide, but it’s useful to be able to get an idea of the likely costs involved and help you assess whether or not this option would suit your needs.
2. Sell your short lease flat to Molae Properties
If extending the lease isn’t an option for you, and you want to achieve a quick sale on your short lease London flat, then you could sell to a specialist company like Molae Properties. They specialise in buying properties in London and within the M25 area and are ideal to use if you want to sell quickly.
Unlike conventional buyers, they are not put off by properties that have a short lease, and neither are they reliant on obtaining a mortgage to make a purchase. They’re flexible too and can work to suit your circumstances. If you’ve already found somewhere else to move and need to do so quickly, for example if you’re changing jobs or getting married, then your contracts can be exchanged pronto. But if you’re still looking for your next property, completion can be delayed to suit your plans.
You can arrange with Molae to have a valuation of your property free of charge and there’s no obligation to go through with the sale if you change your mind or aren’t happy with the price.
For short lease flats that can be troublesome to sell, this offers a fast and effective solution that keeps everyone happy.
