Say what? It means that "an incoming purchaser of the remaining lease will have no rights to claim a statutory lease extension or remain in occupation at the end of the term". Essentially, when the lease runs out, the "owner" has to leave. And that lease ends on March 24th 2013, less than three years away. Effectively, the buyer will be paying rent of a shade over £4,000 per month, except that they'll have to stump up all the cash in advance.
The estate agent, Chelsea-based Friend & Falcke, has put a positive spin on the sale: they claim that renting in the area, for a pad this swish, costs on average £6,900 per month, though the London Rents Map reckons the upper quartile for SW7 is actually £681 per week. Still, F&F can't be too confident that they'll make the sale: it was advertised at £195,000 just three months ago.
Though it seems a difficult sale, the house might be the ideal London pad for new Fulham boss Mark Hughes: it's conveniently close to both Craven Cottage and club owner Mohamed Al-Fayed's retail empire, and given the high turnover in football management, it's unlikely that he'll still be in the job two and a half years from now.
