Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years left on my flat in Calstock. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Calstock.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed apartment in Calstock.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is pay 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 until 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 be perfect, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have just found out that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Calstock. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Calstock are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Calstock so you should seriously consider looking for a Calstock conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should advise you fully on all the issues.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Calstock which have about 50 years left on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Calstock is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the value of the property. The majority of buyers and mortgage companies, leases with under 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Calstock conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Calstock. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, 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 inherited a 2 bed flat in Calstock, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar flats in Calstock with an extended lease are worth £207,000. The ground rent is £60 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 2089

With 64 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £16,200 and £18,600 as well as legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Calstock