Lease extension

Property Investment

I’ve got 61 yrs left on my lease

The freeholder has offered a reasonable price to extend to 125 years but also said they want the ground rent double what it is now and to double every 25 years.

I suppose I have two lines of questions:

1) should I take this deal? The ground rent issue might make it difficult to sell down the line as lenders get stricter on these kinds of issues. Is it worth me sticking out for a more expensive but all round better statutory extension?

2) as far as I’ve found so far, lenders won’t lend for a lease extension whilst the property is let. I can’t afford to leave the place empty whilst this happens. Am I looking at the wrong lenders?