Leasehold dilemma: extend a lease now or wait for a better deal?

As a government consultation continues, it’s a crucial and costly issue facing the owners of flats and houses

Among the myriad of decisions homebuyers and owners have to contend with is leasehold. The number of years left on a lease is crucial when it comes to remortgaging or selling your home, and any potential buyer will struggle to be accepted for a mortgage once the unexpired lease term falls below 70 years. As the government consultation on leasehold homes continues, the issue of extending a lease has become one of the central topics.

The “enfranchisement” process covers both extending a lease and buying the freehold to your home – individually if it’s a house, or collectively in a block of flats. The Law Commission has already put forward proposals to provide a better deal. It wants to see the process become cheaper and easier.

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Celebration and preparation in the allotment | Allan Jenkins https://t.co/FFgD8E5Lh1 Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9

Celebration and preparation in the allotment | Allan Jenkins https://t.co/FFgD8E5Lh1 Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9 (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1081796556091785221)

Celebration and preparation in the allotment | Allan Jenkins

There’s no planting yet this year, but there’s still much pleasure to be had in planning

Epiphany 2019. The high tide has turned, the winter just starting to ebb, though there’ll be dark days to come, of course. It’s an auspicious time in the biodynamic calendar. The day we spray the Three Kings preparation and the plot is scented with frankincense and myrrh.

It’s also Howard’s birthday, so we’ll slice some galette des rois from the French patisserie and take it in turns wearing a paper crown. Stirring is usually done after coming straight from work, sitting in the semi dark and cold in office clothes, plus our golden headgear. This year it’s a Sunday so we’ll be wrapped up warmer.

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Celebration and preparation in the allotment | Allan Jenkins

There’s no planting yet this year, but there’s still much pleasure to be had in planning

Epiphany 2019. The high tide has turned, the winter just starting to ebb, though there’ll be dark days to come, of course. It’s an auspicious time in the biodynamic calendar. The day we spray the Three Kings preparation and the plot is scented with frankincense and myrrh.

It’s also Howard’s birthday, so we’ll slice some galette des rois from the French patisserie and take it in turns wearing a paper crown. Stirring is usually done after coming straight from work, sitting in the semi dark and cold in office clothes, plus our golden headgear. This year it’s a Sunday so we’ll be wrapped up warmer.

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from Home And Garden | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2RtMYh6
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Big style in a little space https://t.co/sFj1GbNqdu Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9

Big style in a little space https://t.co/sFj1GbNqdu Solicitors & Estate Agents In One Just £899 + vat .. https://t.co/eLmKfiYyW9 (via Twitter http://twitter.com/conveyandmove/status/1081583894011482113)

Big style in a little space

A small flat in the redeveloped BBC TV Centre has been cleverly furnished to maximise space

Behind the sweeping curves of the restored 1950s, grade-II-listed former BBC Television Centre Helios building in west London, Sophie Ashby and Charlie Casely-Hayford’s compact one-bedroom flat is a trove of unexpected delights. This is no surprise since both Ashby, who heads up the Studio Ashby interiors practice, and her menswear-designer husband Casely-Hayford, live and breathe design for a living. Ashby, who bought the apartment off-plan four years ago, was keen to make a considered choice as it was her first owned home.

“At the time I had just started my business and wanted to get on the property ladder, but also I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get a mortgage without three years of accounts,” explains Ashby. “So this was a neat solution – you pay in instalments over the years. Charlie and I had only just met, so I wasn’t necessarily thinking about the future.”

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from Property | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2CR0e7q
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Big style in a little space

A small flat in the redeveloped BBC TV Centre has been cleverly furnished to maximise space

Behind the sweeping curves of the restored 1950s, grade-II-listed former BBC Television Centre Helios building in west London, Sophie Ashby and Charlie Casely-Hayford’s compact one-bedroom flat is a trove of unexpected delights. This is no surprise since both Ashby, who heads up the Studio Ashby interiors practice, and her menswear-designer husband Casely-Hayford, live and breathe design for a living. Ashby, who bought the apartment off-plan four years ago, was keen to make a considered choice as it was her first owned home.

“At the time I had just started my business and wanted to get on the property ladder, but also I knew I wasn’t going to be able to get a mortgage without three years of accounts,” explains Ashby. “So this was a neat solution – you pay in instalments over the years. Charlie and I had only just met, so I wasn’t necessarily thinking about the future.”

Continue reading...

from Home And Garden | The Guardian http://bit.ly/2CR0e7q
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