I only have 72 years unexpired on my lease in Accrington. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. For most situations a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Accrington.

Looking forward to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Accrington. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Accrington should include some of the following:

• You should receive a copy of the lease

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Accrington.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is discharge the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am attracted to a two apartments in Accrington which have about 50 years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Accrington is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Accrington conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Accrington where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Accrington conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 buyer.

Accrington Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

This information is important as a) areas can cause problems in the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where services remain unpaid b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the running of the building you will wish to have all the details Please tell me if there are any major works in the planning that could increase the service costs? How many years remain on the lease?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Accrington