My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Aberporth. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Aberporth who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Aberporth conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a couple of apartments in Aberporth which have in the region of forty five years remaining on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Aberporth where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Aberporth conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Aberporth from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Aberporth can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Aberporth charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Aberporth.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Aberporth leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you fail to have the consents in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer in the first instance.
• A minority of Aberporth leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a Aberporth conveyancing transaction. If a new share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

What makes a Aberporth lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Aberporth. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Bank of Scotland, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Aberporth Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

This question is useful as a) areas can cause problems for the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate where maintenance are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the managing agents you will want to know about it