Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Connahs Quay. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Connahs Quay - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold house in Connahs Quay. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Connahs Quay who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Connahs Quay conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, 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 Connahs Quay both have about 50 years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Connahs Quay is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the value of the premises. The majority of purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property 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 Connahs Quay conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending 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 work for a long established estate agency in Connahs Quay where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Connahs Quay conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can initiate 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have 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 simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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 advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Connahs Quay conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Connahs Quay conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Connahs Quay conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• How many lease extensions have they completed in Connahs Quay in the last 12 months?

Connahs Quay Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

How much is the ground rent and service charge? Plenty Connahs Quay leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the building set on behalf of the freeholder. If you acquire the property you will have to pay this amount, usually quarterly throughout the year. This can vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. In all probability there will be a ground rent to be met annual, normally this is not a significant figure, say about £25-£75 but you need to enquire it because occasionally it can be surprisingly expensive. You should be aware if it is fewer than 80 years it will impact the marketability of the apartment. Check with your bank that they are content with the length of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this will be. Remember, in most cases you will be required to have been the owner of the property for a couple of years in order to be entitled to carry out a lease extension.

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Lease Extensions in Connahs Quay