Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Buckingham. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Buckingham - 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 only have 72 years remaining on my flat in Buckingham. I need to get lease extension 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 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 Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Buckingham.

Planning to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Buckingham. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Buckingham should include some of the following:

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
• The total extent of the demise. This will be the apartment itself but might incorporate a roof space or cellar if appropriate.
• Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
• You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?

I am looking at a two flats in Buckingham which have approximately 50 years remaining on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Buckingham. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the value of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Buckingham from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Buckingham can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Buckingham charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Buckingham.
• A minority of Buckingham leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Buckingham conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Buckingham Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before buying

On the whole the outlay for major works are not included within maintenance charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Buckingham ask tenants to contribute towards a reserve fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for larger works.