I only have 62 years left on my flat in Cambourne. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Cambourne.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Cambourne which have in the region of fifty years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Cambourne. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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 ensure 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 am employed by a reputable estate agency in Cambourne where we have witnessed a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Cambourne conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Cambourne with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cambourne can be reduced if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Cambourne charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Cambourne.
• A minority of Cambourne leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Cambourne home move. If a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Cambourne - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments? Best to be warned whether window replacement or some other major work is coming up that will be shared by the leasehold owners and will materially increase the the maintenance costs or require a specific invoice.