I only have 72 years remaining on my flat in Bishopsworth. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, 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 enable the lease to be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Bishopsworth.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Bishopsworth which have approximately 50 years remaining on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Bishopsworth where we see a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Bishopsworth conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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 for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Bishopsworth from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bishopsworth can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Bishopsworth charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bishopsworth.
• If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Bishopsworth conveyancing transaction. Where a duplicate share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

What are the frequently found defects that you see in leases for Bishopsworth properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Bishopsworth. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• 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 can cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. National Westminster Bank, Barnsley Building Society, and Clydesdale all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Bishopsworth Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

Please note if it is fewer than eighty years it will impact the marketability of the property. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the premises for two years before you are eligible to extend the lease.