Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Beaufort. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. 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 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 magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. In some cases a specialist would be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Beaufort.

I have just started marketing my basement apartment in Beaufort.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is clear 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am attracted to a two apartments in Beaufort both have approximately 50 years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is advisable to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Beaufort. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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 be sure 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).

Completion in due on the sale of our £125000 flat in Beaufort in just under a week. The management company has quoted £300 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Beaufort?

Beaufort conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically results in fees being raised by freeholders :

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Beaufort
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Beaufort leasehold premises is £350. For Beaufort conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide the information.

Beaufort Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

You should be aware that where the lease has less than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely need a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the residence for 24 months in order to be eligible to extend the lease. Who are the managing agents? Many Beaufort leasehold flats will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the block set on behalf of the management company. Where you acquire the property you will have to pay this amount, usually periodically accross the year. This can vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. In all probability there will be a ground rent to be met yearly, this is usually not a exorbitant figure, say around £25-£75 but you need to enquire as occasionally it can be many hundreds of pounds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Beaufort