There are only Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Burnham. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

On the basis that 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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Burnham.

I have just started marketing my 2 bed flat in Burnham.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in Burnham both have in the region of fifty years unexpired on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Burnham where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Burnham conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as 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. 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 has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with 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 buyer.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Burnham what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Burnham. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, Coventry Building Society, and Barclays Direct 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 is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Burnham - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Please note that where the lease has no more than 80 years it will impact the salability of the flat. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are content with remaining years on the lease. 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 will be. Remember, in most cases you would be be obliged to have owned the premises for 24 months in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension. How much is the yearly maintenance fee and ground rent? The answer will be useful as a) areas may result in problems for the block as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate if repairs are not paid for b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the running of the building you will wish to know about it

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Burnham