Selling A Short Lease Flat in Kensington

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Kensington, one of London’s most affluent and popular areas to own a home, is known for having a large number of leasehold flats that are seen as having short durations left on the lease agreement. This guide explains what a short lease is, why this neighbourhood has many, as well as advice on problems involved with selling this type of home, and some solutions.

1. How to know whether your leasehold flat in Kensington has a short lease
2. Why is Kensington known for having a large number of short lease flats?
3. Solutions for how to fix having a short lease at your Kensington flat
4. Your short lease Kensington flat may be viewed as less valuable to some buyers
5. Four options for selling a Kensington flat that has a short leasehold
6. Answering your questions about selling a Kensington short lease flat

How to know whether your leasehold flat in Kensington has a short lease

Considered to be among the most affluent of all the neighbourhoods in London, Kensington is part of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea, and it’s situated just under 3 miles to the west of Central London.

The area is well known as the location of Kensington Gardens, as well as many consulates and embassies. You can also find many luxury shops and more along Kensington High Street, and the area is also home to the Royal College of Music and the Victoria and Albert Museum. Kensington in addition features a large number of residential properties

This popular part of London is one of the many places where LDN Properties can make fast and fair offers to buy a wide variety of leasehold and freehold homes. This includes leasehold flats that are seen as having a short lease duration remaining.

A freehold home is one where the owner has outright legal possession of the property, whereas a leasehold flat is one where the current owner, known as the leaseholder, owns the unit for a set number of years as specified in a lease agreement that they sign with the freehold owner. The lease agreement also includes other conditions such as how much the leaseholder will have to pay the freehold owner every year for ground rent and service charges.

You own a short lease flat in Kensington if there are fewer than 70 years remaining on the agreement, although some consider a lease to be short if there are under 80 years left. A conventional lease, by contrast, lasts at least 99 years but can be 125 years or even longer.

As this guide explains, there can be some complications involved with attempting to sell a short lease flat compared to one that is considered to have a regular length lease. Keep reading to learn why Kensington has so many of these homes, and what to do to resolve the situation.

Why is Kensington known for having a large number of short lease flats?

Many parts of London, including Kensington, have a much greater number of flats with short leases compared to other locations in the UK. And the primary reason for this is linked to the development of the city by several family estates that owned large portions of it.

In Kensington, this includes land originally bought in the 1600s by London-based wine merchant Sir William Blake. At the time the land mostly consisted of gardens and not much property. As the land was passed down through generations, it started to be used for constructing homes, including flats, beginning in the 17th century.

Many of the flats remain under the ownership of estates, including the land once owned by Blake which is now known as South Kensington Estates. (https://ske.org/who-we-are/our-heritage/) And several of the flats built by the estate began with short leases, compared to the typical 99 or 125 year leases that you’ll find with modern flats.

Even if a flat in Kensington originally started with a long lease, enough time has passed through the various different owners over the years that it might now have only enough years left on the agreement that the property is considered to have a short lease.

Solutions for how to fix having a short lease at your Kensington flat

Should you be the owner of a short lease flat in Kensington, you have a few different solutions available for how to proceed. You could ask the freeholder owner of the property for an extension to the lease, try to buy the freehold, or sell your flat without changing the lease. Below you can read more about the three choices, as well as their benefits and drawbacks.

Ask the freeholder for an extension to the lease

One typical approach that owners of a short lease try is asking the freeholder owner of the property for a lease extension. This would lengthen the number of years remaining on the lease, typically pushing it over the 95 year threshold for it be seen as a conventional length lease.

But you should be aware that the freeholder is not under any obligation to automatically approve a lease extension, and they could reject your request. Even if they are willing to extend the lease, they might set a high price for it that you cannot, or do not want, to pay. And the steps involved with securing a lease extension might also take a very long time.

Try to buy the freehold of your property

Another option, which eliminates any current or future concern about your lease’s duration, is to ask the freeholder whether they are willing to consider selling your their property. If you were to become the freeholder owner of the flat, it would no longer be a leasehold unit.

This solution also has a number of complications, with the primary problem being that the freeholder is likely to ask an incredibly high price for the property, given its in-demand location in Kensington – and this price could be beyond what you are willing or able to pay. Buying the freehold can also be a lengthy process that you might not be prepared to go through.

Sell your flat without changing your leasehold

Or you could simply try to sell your flat as is with the short lease, and the good news is that there are some simple ways to do this and still get a competitive offer for your property.

One such solution is getting in contact with a quick home buying company such as LDN Properties. These businesses make fair and speedy offers to buy practically any type of freehold or leasehold home, including short lease flats. The timeline for selling to a quick buyer should only be a handful of weeks, and the honest companies never charge sellers any fees. You can learn more about selling this way, and other options to find a buyer, in the next section.

Your short lease Kensington flat may be viewed as less valuable to some buyers

For anyone that owns a short lease flat in Kensington, you could discover that your property might be seen by some potential buyers as less valuable than one with a longer lease. There are a couple of reasons for this, although this doesn’t mean your home will be impossible to sell.

The first justification that is someone interested in buying your flat could be worried that a short lease means they will not be the owner for very long. And even if you suggest to them that they could apply to the freeholder to either extend the lease or sell them the freehold, the potential buyer may not have the time, money or interest in pursing either of those options.

And the second main explanation for why your property could be seen as less valuable is that mortgage lenders look warily at this type of flat. If a home loan provider approves a mortgage for someone to purchase your property, and the borrower then defaults on the mortgage repayments, the lender can ultimately move to repossess the home and try to sell it to recoup the outstanding amount owed on the home loan. But if the lender worries that a short lease flat will be difficult to resell, they may reject the mortgage application, preventing the buyer from purchasing your property.

Despite these two reasons for certain buyers seeing short lease flats as not being as valuable as those with longer leases, you don’t have to worry about either if you sell your home to a quick buyer such as LDN Properties. We have been buying flats and houses throughout London for more than 20 years, including short lease flats, making quick and competitive offers for them. Keep reading to learn more about selling this way and other methods for finding a buyer.

Four options for selling a Kensington flat that has a short leasehold

For any short lease flat owner that decides they want to sell their home with its current lease without seeking a lease extension or attempting to purchase the freehold of the property, you have a few different methods available for how to go about finding a buyer.

You could select from selling to a quick home buyer like LDN Properties, enlisting the help of an estate agent, attempting to sell your flat at a property auction, or selling on your own.

All four of these strategies differ based on whether they charge commission, the amount of time they take, and other factors, so carefully review them before making a decision.

Selling to a quick home buyer

A stress-free way to sell your Kensington short lease flat is contacting a quick buyer such as LDN Properties. We never charge any commission and the entire schedule should be only a few weeks, including the time taken to pay you the full proceeds and exchange contracts.

Start by calling us and describing your flat, and within an hour we should be able to make a tentative fair offer for buying it, which you will have at least a week to think about.

If you accept our initial offer, we will then arrange a time and day for one of our friendly team members to visit your home so that they can assess the property before we make our final offer. It’s the only viewing we’ll need, whereas other selling methods might require many viewings.

And if you agree to our final offer, we’ll work speedily with your solicitor or other legal representative to sign the mandatory documents and handle the rest of the work needed to complete the purchase of your flat – all done within weeks after you first get in touch with us. Not only is it a zero-fee way to sell your home, it’s also typically the fastest option.

Selling with an estate agent

The second way to try selling your flat is using the support of an estate agent, who will do most of the tasks needed to find a buyer. This starts with creating a listing that describes the home and includes photographs of it, then advertising this, organising viewings for potential buyers to tour it, hearing offers from buyers, and trying to guide one to the exchange of contracts.

Although this means you won’t have to put much work into finding a buyer, estate agents will charge commission if your home sells. This fee will be deducted right away from the eventual property sale proceeds, so this will inevitably cause your selling expenses to increase.

Selling via an estate agent can also take a long time, sometimes several months or longer. And even if someone makes an honest offer to buy your flat, they might later change their mind and cancel the offer, causing the sale to collapse. They can do this without penalty if you have not yet already exchanged contracts. And it would require you to begin again with seeking another buyer, possibly adding even more time to your overall selling schedule.

Selling at a property auction

The third way to attempt selling your flat is through an auction, where people will place bids of increasing size on your home, and the top bid at the time the auction ends being deemed the winner and new owner of the property. But there is no promise that your home will get any bids, in which case it doesn’t sell and you would need to start over with looking for a buyer.

Even if your flat does find a buyer, selling this way can take a long time, starting with the auctioneer producing and marking a listing for your home, scheduling and hosting the auction itself and then overseeing the steps involved with completing a successful sale.

Auctioneers will also charge you commission if they are able to sell your flat, and this fee would be deducted from the final auction sale proceeds. Should you be looking to reduce your costs, you may want to consider other options, such as selling to a no-fee quick home buyer.

Selling on your own

The fourth way to sell your flat is trying to do so without any assistance, but this can create a lot of stress and work for you. That’s because you will need to handle all the tasks involved with finding a buyer, from creating and advertising a listing through to organising viewings for prospective buyers, hearing offers, and attempting to get one to exchanging contracts.

It can also take a very long time to find a buyer, sometimes more than an entire year. And even if you get an offer, the buyer might rescind it later – which they can do without any penalty if contracts are not yet exchanged. This would make the sale fall apart and you’d need to look again for another buyer, delaying a final sale by potentially many more months.

The only obvious advantage of selling on your own is that you won’t have to pay any commission on the sale. But any saving that you make this way might be eliminated by the funds that you have to spend on the selling process, such as advertising your listing.

✅ What type of property in Kensington qualifies as a short lease flat?

Leasehold flats are those where you own the unit for a set number of years as detailed in the lease agreement that you sign with the freeholder, who is the outright owner of the property. Typical leases run for at least 99 years but they can be up to 125 years or longer. A short lease is considered one that has under 70 years left but sometimes also under 80 years to go.

✅ Why does Kensington have such a large number of flats with short leases?

Among the main reasons for the amount of short lease flats in Kensington is that the area was owned and developed by estates starting the 1700s. Many of the properties that these estates constructed either started with short leases or they had conventional length leases originally but enough time has passed that the remaining time left now makes them seen as short leases.

✅ What solutions are available for fixing a short lease at my Kensington flat?

One method you could try is asking the freeholder to grant you a lease extension, although this can be costly and take a long time, and there’s no guarantee they will agree to it. You could also ask to buy the freehold outright, but this will be very expensive and also not guaranteed. Or you could try to sell your flat fast as is to a quick home buyer such as LDN Properties.

✅ Why is it considered more challenging to sell a short lease flat?

A reason why you could face complications with selling a short lease flat compared to one of conventional longer length is that certain buyers may worry about uncertainty over whether they’ll be able to get a lease extension as the next owner. Also, some buyers relying on a mortgage to buy the flat may get turned down for the loan as lenders are wary of these homes.

✅ If I want to sell my Kensington short lease flat, what options are available?

The four standard methods that you could select from are selling to a quick home buyer, selling using the services of an estate agent, attempting to sell through an auction, or selling without any help. Be sure to carefully review the advantages and disadvantages of all four methods before making a choice because they vary based on cost, time taken and other factors.

✅ How much will I have to pay in fees when selling my short lease flat in Kensington?

Should you decide to sell your home to a legitimate no-fee quick buyer like LDN Properties, or if you attempt to sell on your own, you won’t have to pay any commission, which will help limit your overall selling expenses. But if you sell your flat through an estate agent or an auctioneer, you will need to pay them commission that will be subtracted from the final sale proceeds.

✅ What is the typical timeline to find a buyer for a Kensington short lease flat?

If you opt for selling your flat to an honest no-fee quick buyer such as LDN Properties, the process should only take a few short weeks from the start to the exchange of contracts and you receiving the full sale proceeds. If you instead choose to sell with an estate agent, an auctioneer, or without any assistance, it might take a number of months or even longer.