Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Bourne End. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. For most situations a specialist should be useful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Bourne End.

I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Bourne End.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently found out that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Bourne End. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Bourne End are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Bourne End so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Bourne End conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the freeholder’spermission to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your conveyancer will advise you fully on all the issues.

I own a leasehold house in Bourne End. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Bourne End who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Bourne End conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

What makes a Bourne End lease problematic?

Leasehold conveyancing in Bourne End is not unique. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, Barnsley Building Society, and Clydesdale all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Bourne End Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask 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 property. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would need to own the residence for two years in order to be legally able to extend the lease. It would be sensible to discover as much as possible about the company managing the building as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are frequently at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to daily issues such as the upkeep of the communal areas. Enquire of other people what they think of their service. On a final note, investigate as to the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the appropriate party and precisely how they are spending the funds. For most Bourne End leaseholds the cost for major works tend not to be incorporated into the service charges, albeit that some managing agents in Bourne End obliged leaseholders to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for larger works.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bourne End