I have recently realised that I have 72 years remaining on my lease in Fawley. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

On the basis that 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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Fawley.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Fawley. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before 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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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 employed by a reputable estate agent office in Fawley where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Fawley conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have 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 sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Fawley with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Fawley can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Fawley leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you fail to have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Fawley what are the most common lease defects?

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

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Nationwide Building Society, Skipton Building Society, and Clydesdale all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I bought a studio flat in Fawley, conveyancing was carried out in 1996. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Fawley with an extended lease are worth £185,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2099

With just 73 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £12,400 and £14,200 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Fawley