I only have 68 years remaining on my lease in Cwmbran. I need to get lease extension but my landlord 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 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 prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Cwmbran.

I own a leasehold house in Cwmbran. Conveyancing and Lloyds TSB Bank 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 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Cwmbran who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Cwmbran conveyancing solicitor 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 freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Cwmbran. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. Strange as it may seem, 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 ensure 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).

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Cwmbran where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Cwmbran conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to 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 been the owner 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. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 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 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 purchaser.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Cwmbran conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Cwmbran conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you talk with two or three firms including non Cwmbran 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 of use:

• What volume of lease extensions has the firm carried out in Cwmbran in the last 12 months?

Cwmbran Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Most Cwmbran leasehold flats will have a service bill for the upkeep of the building set on behalf of the freeholder. Should you purchase the apartment you will have to meet this contribution, normally in instalments accross the year. This may be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a ground rent to be met annual, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant sum, say around £25-£75 but you should to check it because occasionally it could be prohibitively expensive. You should be aware that where the lease has no more than 80 years it will affect the value of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most Cwmbranlease extensions you would be required to have been the owner of the premises for two years in order to be entitled to exercise a lease extension. Are any of leasehold owners in dispute over their service charge liability?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Cwmbran