There are only 72 years left on my lease in Glossop. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Glossop.

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor flat in Glossop.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you discharge the service charge 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 unless 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I own a leasehold flat in Glossop. Conveyancing and Barnsley Building Society mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Glossop who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Glossop conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a couple of flats in Glossop both have in the region of 50 years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Glossop is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the value of the premises. For most buyers and lenders, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises 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 Glossop conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending 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.

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

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Glossop. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are not included. 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
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Santander, The Mortgage Works, and Aldermore 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 buyer to withdraw.

I bought a studio flat in Glossop, conveyancing formalities finalised 2001. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Comparable properties in Glossop with over 90 years remaining are worth £230,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease expires on 21st October 2073

With 53 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £31,400 and £36,200 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Glossop