I only have Seventy years left on my lease in Crabtree. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. On the whole a specialist may be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Crabtree.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Crabtree.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is discharge 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 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Crabtree. Conveyancing and Barnsley Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Crabtree who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is 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 Crabtree conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Crabtree which have about 50 years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Crabtree. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

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

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Crabtree conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with several firms including non Crabtree conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• How many lease extensions have they carried out in Crabtree in the last year?

Crabtree Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

Please inform me if there are any major works in the near future that will increase the service charges? Is the freehold reversion owned jointly by the leaseholders? How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Crabtree