There are only Seventy years left on my flat in Deeside. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. For most situations a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Deeside.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just been informed that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Deeside. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Deeside are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Deeside in which case you should be looking for a Deeside conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the freeholder’spermission to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your lawyer should advise you fully on all the issues.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Deeside. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Deeside with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Deeside can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Deeside leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Where you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
• A minority of Deeside leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Deeside conveyancing deal. Where a new share certificate is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Deeside what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Deeside. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Virgin Money, and Bank of Ireland all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

I purchased a basement flat in Deeside, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent properties in Deeside with over 90 years remaining are worth £263,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 per annum. The lease finishes on 21st October 2078

With just 52 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £34,200 and £39,600 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.