Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Great Barford:

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While any conveyancing practice can theoretically handle your leasehold conveyancing in Great Barford, your mortgage provider may not be willing to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Great Barford leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s

I have recently realised that I have 72 years remaining on my flat in Great Barford. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. 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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Great Barford.

Back In 2004, I bought a leasehold house in Great Barford. Conveyancing and Clydesdale mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Great Barford who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Great Barford conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Great Barford where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Great Barford conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Great Barford conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Great Barford conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with several firms including non Great Barford conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

  • If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?
  • What volume of lease extensions have they carried out in Great Barford in the last year?

    • Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Great Barford from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

    • Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Great Barford can be reduced where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
    • Many landlords or managing agents in Great Barford charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Great Barford.
  • A minority of Great Barford leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
  • If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
  • You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

    • I own a garden flat in Great Barford, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2003. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent properties in Great Barford with over 90 years remaining are worth £245,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2079

    With just 55 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £32,300 and £37,400 as well as professional fees.

    The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

    Other Topics

    Lease Extensions in Great Barford