Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years remaining on my flat in Chesham. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

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 track down the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Chesham.

I have just appointed agents to market my basement flat in Chesham.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a half-yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear 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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I own a leasehold house in Chesham. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Chesham who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Chesham conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I work for a reputable estate agency in Chesham where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Chesham conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities 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 commence 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 before, or at the same time as 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.

What makes a Chesham lease unacceptable for security purposes?

Leasehold conveyancing in Chesham is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You may have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, Bank of Scotland, and Barclays Direct all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Chesham Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

On the whole the outlay for major works tend not to be built into the maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Chesham require tenants to contribute towards a reserve fund created for the specific intention of building a fund for larger repairs or maintenance. It is important to be aware whether window replacement or some other significant cost is due shortly that will be shared by the tenants and will dramatically impact the level of the maintenance fees or necessitate a one time invoice. Where a Chesham lease has no more than 80 years it will impact the salability of the property. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will most likely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most Cheshamlease extensions you would need to own the property for two years before you are legally able to exercise a lease extension.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Chesham