There are only 68 years unexpired on my lease in Bargoed. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist may be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Bargoed.

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Bargoed. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me next week. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Bargoed should include some of the following:

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Bargoed both have about 50 years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Bargoed. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the value of the lease decreases 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 because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Bargoed conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Bargoed conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Bargoed conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Bargoed what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Bargoed. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations 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

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, Barnsley Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions 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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Bargoed - Examples of Queries before buying

You should be aware if it is less than 80 years it will impact the salability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension at some point and it is worth finding out what this will be. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for 24 months before you are entitled to exercise a lease extension. The majority of Bargoed leasehold flats will have a service bill for maintenance of the building levied by the management company. Where you buy the flat you will have to pay this amount, normally periodically accross the year. This may vary from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. In all probability there will be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a large amount, say about £50-£100 but you need to check as occasionally it can be surprisingly expensive. How much is the ground rent and service charge?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bargoed