I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Barrow In Furness. 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 Barrow In Furness - 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.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years remaining on my lease in Barrow In Furness. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Barrow In Furness.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden flat in Barrow In Furness.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you clear the invoice 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 management companies 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Barrow In Furness where we have experienced a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Barrow In Furness conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process 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 kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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 purchaser.

What are the frequently found problems that you witness in leases for Barrow In Furness properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Barrow In Furness is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain sections are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Halifax, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Godiva Mortgages 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 problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Barrow In Furness - A selection of Queries before buying

It would be sensible to find out as much as you can regarding the managing agents as they will either make your life much simpler or a lot more difficult. Being a leasehold owner you will be at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to daily matters such as the upkeep of the common parts. Ask prospective neighbours what they think of their service. Finally, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the appropriate party and precisely what it includes. Generally speaking the cost for major works are not wrapped into the maintenance charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Barrow In Furness require tenants to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major works. Does the lease have more than 90 years remaining?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Barrow In Furness