I have recently realised that I have Fifty years left on my lease in Flamborough. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. 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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Flamborough.

I have just started marketing my 2 bed apartment in Flamborough.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is discharge the invoice 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 flat in Flamborough. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Flamborough who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Flamborough conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. 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 two maisonettes in Flamborough which have approximately fifty years unexpired on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Flamborough. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease shortens the saleability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Flamborough what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Flamborough. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• Insurance obligations
• 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

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Virgin Money, and Aldermore all have express 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 provide security, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

I invested in buying a 1st floor flat in Flamborough, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2006. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Similar flats in Flamborough with an extended lease are worth £172,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2083

With only 61 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £20,000 and £23,000 plus costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Flamborough