I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Coniston. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is registered - and most are in Coniston - 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.

There are only Sixty One years left on my lease in Coniston. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent would be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Coniston.

I have just appointed agents to market my garden apartment in Coniston.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly service charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you clear the invoice 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 looking at a couple of apartments in Coniston both have in the region of fifty years left on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Coniston. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Coniston. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before 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. It is an essential part 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).

Coniston Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Plenty Coniston leasehold properties will have a service charge for maintenance of the building levied by the freeholder. If you purchase the flat you will have to meet this charge, normally quarterly during the year. This can be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, normally this is not a significant figure, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to check as sometimes it can be prohibitively expensive. Does the lease have onerous restrictions? Best to be warned whether a new roof is being put on or some other significant cost is pending to be shared by the leasehold owners and could well dramatically impact the level of the maintenance costs or result in a specific payment.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Coniston