Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my lease in Glan Conwy. 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 submit an application 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 Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Glan Conwy.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently found out that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Glan Conwy. Conveyancing advisers have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Glan Conwy are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Glan Conwy so you should seriously consider looking for a Glan Conwy conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’sconsent to conduct alterations. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your conveyancer will report to you on the legal implications.

Back In 2008, I bought a leasehold house in Glan Conwy. Conveyancing and National Westminster Bank mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Glan Conwy who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Glan Conwy conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Glan Conwy. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, 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).

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Glan Conwy where we have experienced a number of flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Glan Conwy conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start 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 before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Glan Conwy - Sample of Questions you should ask before buying

The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this situation the leaseholders enjoy being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is often retained where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. Its a good idea to discover as much as you can concerning the company managing the block as they will either make your living at the property much easier or problematic. Being a leasehold owner you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day matters like the tidiness of the communal areas. Ask other tenants what they think of their service. Finally, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the relevant party and specifically what it includes. Best to be warned if changing the roof or some other major work is due shortly that will be shared between the tenants and will dramatically impact the level of the service costs or result in a one time invoice.

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Lease Extensions in Glan Conwy