Peter Barry Chartered Surveyors are one of the few London based firms of surveyors that specialise in roof space valuations, basement extension valuations, and vault space valuations.
When the leaseholder of a top floor flat wants to carry out a loft conversion they will often find that the loft is not included within their lease. Even where the roof space is included in the lease, they may find that the roof structure and air space above the roof needed for a dormer are not demised, or that the lease contains restrictive development covenants. In these circumstances the leaseholder will need to buy any parts of the roof space, roof structure and air space alongside any permissions required for the proposed loft conversion from their freeholder.
At the start of a project...
Similarly when a leaseholder wishes to carry out a basement extension or acquire and extend into a sub-pavement vault area they will often find that they need to buy these parts of the building from the freeholder. Projects involving basement extensions and vault space acquisitions are particularly common in central London.
The established approach in this scenario is essentially to estimate how much profit there is to be made by way of the extension works, and then to divide that profit between the leaseholder and the freeholder. The profit is commonly referred to as marriage value.
Calculating Marriage Value
In order to calculate the marriage value the valuer will estimate how much the value of the flat will be increased by the extension works, and will seek to establish the likely costs of the project.
The valuer will also make an allowance for the fact that it is the leaseholder who will assume the risks associated with the project and will suffer the greatest amount of inconvenience from the works. The costs (including construction costs, acquisition costs, planning and building control costs, party wall fees and an allowance for the leaseholder’s risk etc.) are deducted from the increase in the value of the flat attributable to the extension to arrive at the marriage value figure. The freeholder’s share of that marriage value is usually 50%, and that amount is paid by the leaseholder to the freeholder for the required demise and development permissions.
Specialist Surveyors and Valuers
When you instruct Peter Barry Chartered Surveyors to carry out a roof space valuation, basement extension valuation or vault space valuation the company will allocate a specialist Chartered Surveyor & RICS Registered Valuer to your case.
We have valued these kind of projects across London at anything from nill (the project being financially unviable) to hundreds of thousands of pounds (typically related to high value projects in central London). As the amount payable varies so significantly from project to project having the assessment carried out by an experienced Chartered Surveyor is key to ensuring the valuation is as accurate as possible.
Contact Us
If you’d like to discuss your project in more detail, or to arrange for a valuation of your property, our team will be happy to help.
Freehold Enfranchisement
As an alternative to a lease extension, leaseholders in a block can acquire the freehold in what is technically known as enfranchisement (as a rule this is more than 50% participation).
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Lease Extension
The Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 (as amended) gives flat owners the right to a lease extension of 90 years on top of the current lease, and a reduction of their ground rent to a peppercorn.
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Absentee Freeholders
When flat owners find themselves with a missing freeholder it can cause real problems. The freeholder will typically be responsible for insuring the building as well as organising external maintenance and repairs.
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