I have 71 years left on my lease and require a lease extension for my apartment in Acklam. Conveyancing solicitors on the Nationwide Building Society panel can deal with such extensions right?
Most leasehold conveyancing experts should be able to deal with a lease extension. if you are obtaining a mortgage then your lender may insist that the lease be extended before competition. Nationwide Building Society have specific requirements as set out in the UK Finance Lenders’ Handbook in relation to minimum unexpired lease terms. As of 10/9/2026 the requirements read as follows :
- There must be at least 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term (regardless of the length of lease at the start).
Where the unexpired lease term is different to that recorded on the mortgage offer, the following clarifies if we need to be informed:
Second hand property:
- If the unexpired lease term on the offer is 85 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 85 years
- if the unexpired lease term on the offer is less than 85 years – advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported
- For equity share applications - advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
- Where lending is over 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat and the unexpired lease term on the offer is 90 years or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 90 years.
New build property:
- If the unexpired lease term stated on the offer is 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house) or more - only advise us if the actual lease term is less than 125 years (flat) / 250 years (house)
- For equity share applications - always advise us if the actual lease term is different than reported on the offer
Lease terms such as ground rent and event fees must be reasonable at all times during the term of the lease and adhere to our requirements below. If you’re unsure as to whether the terms of a lease are unreasonable or onerous, please refer the details to us in plain English for Valuer consideration. If the potentially onerous terms are in relation to the ground rent please include the current ground rent figure per annum, how often it will be reviewed and the price structure it will be reviewed against. See the guidance below.
SECOND HAND PROPERTIES
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined):
- Unexpired lease term less than 55 years
- Unexpired lease term less than 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat
- Less than 30 years remaining at the end of the mortgage term
- Ground Rent greater than 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent doubles less than every 20 years (e.g. doubles every 5, 10 or 15 years) - acceptable if doubles every 20 years or more
- Ground Rent is compounded RPI
- Ground Rent review period is less than or equal to 5 years
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Unexpired lease term is 55 to 85 years
- Ground Rent greater than 0.1% and less than or equal to 0.5% of the property value
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to any indices greater than RPI
- Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building*
- Ground Rent review period is greater than 5 and less than 10 years
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial, etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything that appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than 85 years (Minimum 90 years where we are lending more than 85% of the purchase price/valuation on a second hand flat)
- Ground Rent less than or equal to 0.1% of the property value
- Ground Rent review period greater than or equal to 10 years
- Ground Rent escalation less than or equal to RPI
NEW BUILD PROPERTIES (includes office conversions)
Unacceptable - advise Issuing Office (Will be declined)
- Unexpired lease term less than 125 years on a new build flat or less than 250 years on a new build house (does not apply to Shared Ownership)
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
- Any lease which is subject to a Ground Rent (or Annual Rent) being charged which is more than on a peppercorn basis
Refer to Issuing Office (Valuer will consider any impact on valuation figure and marketability):
- Event clauses exist for normal use e.g. changing the carpet, installing a TV aerial etc
- Estate Rent Charges greater than £500 p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Service Charges greater than 1% of property value p/a (please provide details of what the charges cover)
- Anything else appears onerous, unusual or out of the ordinary
Acceptable (no requirement to advise Issuing Office):
- Unexpired lease term greater than or equal to 125 years on a new build flat or greater than or equal to 250 years on a new build house
- A lease subject to a peppercorn Ground Rent (Annual Rent) charges
For the avoidance of doubt, any New Build properties completed but not sold pre-30 June 2022 will only be acceptable if the Lease conforms to the above guidance.
* Where the Ground Rent escalation is linked to the value of the building, please provide the following:
- How is the value of the block/unit currently calculated and if the assessment relates to the block(s), how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned per property?
- The current valuation and Ground Rent for each unit
- What is the mechanism for future valuations of the block and how is the Ground Rent calculated/apportioned?
- What is the right of appeal? And is this a documented process within the lease?
- Who bears the cost of the valuation (and appeal) process?
- Confirmation the review period is not less than twenty years.
Lease Extensions
We require all Lease Extensions to be completed under the Leasehold Reform Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 and to meet the above criteria as a minimum. Where you become aware that it does not meet these requirements, please refer to Issuing Office.
Please ensure that all lender enquiries are submitted (with full documentation/requirements) at least 2 weeks prior to exchange to allow sufficient time for review and decisioning.
Will my conveyancer be raising enquiries concerning flooding during the conveyancing in Acklam.
The risk of flooding is if increasing concern for conveyancers carrying out conveyancing in Acklam. Plenty of people will acquire a house in Acklam, completely expectant that at some time, it may suffer from flooding. However, aside from the physical destruction, where a house is at risk of flooding, it may be difficult to obtain a mortgage, suitable building insurance, or sell the property. Steps can be carried out during the course of a house purchase to forewarn the purchaser.
Conveyancers are not qualified to offer advice on flood risk, but there are a number of checks that can be carried out by the purchaser or by their lawyers which can figure out the risks in Acklam. The conventional set of completed inquiry forms given to a buyer’s lawyer (where the solicitors are adopting what is known as the Conveyancing Protocol) contains a usual question of the owner to determine if the premises has suffered from flooding. In the event that the property has been flooded in past and is not revealed by the vendor, then a buyer may commence a legal claim for losses as a result of such an inaccurate response. The buyer’s lawyers should also commission an environmental search. This will higlight whether there is a recorded flood risk. If so, additional investigations should be made.
four months have gone by since my purchase conveyancing in Acklam completed. I have checked the Land Registry website which shows that I paid £175,000 when infact I paid £160,000. Why the discrepancy?
The price paid figure is taken from the application to register the purchase. It is the figure included in the Transfer (the legal deed which transfers the asset from one person to the other) and referred to as the 'consideration' or purchase price. You can report an error in the price paid figure using the LR online form. In most cases errors result from typos so at first glance the figure. Do report it so they can double check and advise.
Due to the encouragement of my in-laws I had a survey completed on a property in Acklam ahead of appointing solicitors. I have been informed that there is a flying freehold element to the house. The surveyor advised that some mortgage companies may not give a loan on a flying freehold house.
It varies from the lender to lender. Lloyds has different requirements for example to Halifax. Should you wish to telephone us we can look into this further via the relevant lender. If you lender is happy to lend one our lawyers can assist as they are used to dealing with flying freeholds in Acklam. Conveyancing can be more complicated and therefore you should check with your conveyancing solicitor in Acklam to see if the conveyancing will be more expensive.
In sourcing the internet for the words on line conveyancing in Acklam it reveals numerous solicitorsin the vicinity. With so much choice what is the best way to find the suitable conveyancing solicitor for me?
The best method of choosing the right conveyancer is through a trusted testimonial, so ask friends and family who have bought a property in Acklam or the local estate agent or financial adviser. Costs for conveyancing in Acklam vary, so it's a good idea to secure at least four estimates from varying types of law firms. Make sure that you know that the charges are assured not to increase.
I have been looking for Acklam online conveyancing estimates. Can I be assured that all the Acklam law firms that are listed on your website are on the mortgage company conveyancing panel?
The solicitor and licensed conveyancing practices listed on our site have advised us that they are on the bank panel and agreed to advise us to take down their listing in the event of removal off of the mortgage company panel. To date we have not been informed by either a bank or a member of the public that the data about a specific Acklam firm being on the bank conveyancing panel is not accurate.