Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 68 years left on my lease in Dunmow. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord 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 demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Dunmow.

Looking forward to exchange soon on a basement flat in Dunmow. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Dunmow should include some of the following:

• Setting out your rights in respect of common areas in the block.For instance, does the lease provide for a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
• Are pets allowed in the flat?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
• What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

I am looking at a two flats in Dunmow which have approximately 50 years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Dunmow from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Dunmow can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Dunmow charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Dunmow.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Dunmow leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such works. Where you fail to have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance.
• A minority of Dunmow leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and pay 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.

What makes a Dunmow lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Dunmow. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Lloyds TSB Bank, Barnsley Building Society, and Aldermore all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

Dunmow Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider before buying

Best to be warned whether redecorating or some other significant cost is pending to be shared amongst the tenants and will dramatically impact the level of the service fees or require a specific payment. How is the lease structured?