Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Abersychan. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Abersychan - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

There are only 68 years left on my flat in Abersychan. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the lessor. On the whole a specialist would be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Abersychan.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Abersychan. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Abersychan from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Abersychan can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Abersychan leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Should you fail to have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance.

What are the common problems that you come across in leases for Abersychan properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Abersychan is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Lloyds TSB Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and TSB all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I am the registered owner of a 2 bed flat in Abersychan, conveyancing having been completed in 2002. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent properties in Abersychan with a long lease are worth £246,000. The ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2099

With 74 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Abersychan