I have recently realised that I have Fifty years left on my lease in Bodmin. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. 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 lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Bodmin.

I have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in Bodmin.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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 managing agents 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am looking at a two flats in Bodmin both have in the region of 50 years remaining on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Bodmin. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Bodmin. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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).

I work for a long established estate agent office in Bodmin where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Bodmin conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 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 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 Bodmin - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

You should want to find out as much as you can regarding the company managing the block as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you are often in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical issues like the upkeep of the communal areas. Ask other people whether they are happy with them. On a final note, investigate as to the dates that the maintenance charges are due to the managing agents and precisely what it includes. Please note if it is no more than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the property. Check with your bank that they are content with the length of the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. For most Bodminlease extensions you will need to own the property for 24 months in order to be legally able to extend the lease.