Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Cinderford. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Cinderford - 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Cinderford. Conveyancing and Nottingham Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Cinderford who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Cinderford conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Cinderford both have about 50 years unexpired on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Cinderford. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Cinderford where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Cinderford conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-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 for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Cinderford conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Cinderford conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you make enquires with several firms including non Cinderford conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?

I purchased a leasehold flat in Cinderford, conveyancing formalities finalised 3 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Cinderford with an extended lease are worth £246,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2080

You have 55 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £28,500 and £33,000 as well as legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Cinderford