Back In 2005, I bought a leasehold house in Bagillt. Conveyancing and Bank of Scotland mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Bagillt who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Bagillt conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Bagillt which have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Bagillt. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Bagillt. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. It is an essential part 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).

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Bagillt where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Bagillt conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £475000 garden flat in Bagillt in nine days. The freeholder has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Bagillt?

Bagillt conveyancing on leasehold flats normally necessitates the buyer’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries the majority will be content to do so. They are entitled levy a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is above £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is not strictly payable. In reality you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

I bought a studio flat in Bagillt, conveyancing formalities finalised 2012. 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? Comparable properties in Bagillt with over 90 years remaining are worth £225,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2093

With only 71 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Bagillt