I only have Fifty years remaining on my flat in Gloucester. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

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 lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Gloucester.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Gloucester.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is 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 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Gloucester. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Gloucester are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Gloucester so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Gloucester conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the freeholder’spermission to conduct alterations. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor should report to you on the legal implications.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Gloucester. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. Strange as it may seem, 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 busy estate agency in Gloucester where we have experienced a number of flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Gloucester conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as 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. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, 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 purchaser.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Gloucester - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

It would be prudent to enquire if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. By way of example it is reasonably common in Gloucester leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Gloucester. If you like the flatin Gloucester but your cat can’t live with you then you will be presented with a difficult choice. The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this situation the leaseholders enjoy being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is often retained if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. How long is the Lease?

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Lease Extensions in Gloucester