Frequently asked questions relating to Frant leasehold conveyancing
There are only Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Frant. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What are my options?
On the basis that you qualify, 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the landlord. On the whole a specialist should be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Frant.
I have just started marketing my 2 bed apartment in Frant.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?
Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should 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 managing agents 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.
I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have since been informed that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Frant. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?
The majority of houses in Frant are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Frant in which case you should be shopping around for a Frant conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the landlord’spermission to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your solicitor will appraise you on the various issues.
I am attracted to a two apartments in Frant both have about fifty years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?
There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Frant is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the value of the property. For most purchasers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Frant conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
I work for a long established estate agency in Frant where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Frant conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, 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 purchaser.
I am the registered owner of a 1 bedroom flat in Frant, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Frant with a long lease are worth £207,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease ends on 21st October 2099
You have 74 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £10,500 and £12,000 plus costs.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.
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