I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Bishops Waltham. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Bishops Waltham - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

I have recently realised that I have Seventy years left on my lease in Bishops Waltham. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Bishops Waltham.

I have just appointed agents to market my garden apartment in Bishops Waltham.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is pay 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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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.

Back In 2006, I bought a leasehold flat in Bishops Waltham. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Bishops Waltham who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Bishops Waltham conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I work for a long established estate agent office in Bishops Waltham where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Bishops Waltham conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as 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 can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Bishops Waltham - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Who are the managing agents? The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold reversion is owned by the leaseholders. In this scenario the tenants have control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often employed where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders. Most Bishops Waltham leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the building set by the landlord. Should you acquire the flat you will have to meet this charge, usually in instalments throughout the year. This could vary from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a ground rent to be met yearly, normally this is not a large sum, say about £50-£100 but you should to check as occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds.

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Lease Extensions in Bishops Waltham