Recently asked questions relating to Hailsham leasehold conveyancing
Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years unexpired on my flat in Hailsham. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?
If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Hailsham.
Expecting to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Hailsham. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?
The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Hailsham should include some of the following:
- Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
Back In 2001, I bought a leasehold house in Hailsham. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Hailsham who acted for me is not around.What should I do?
The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Hailsham conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. 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've recently bought a leasehold flat in Hailsham. 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 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 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 reputable estate agent office in Hailsham where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Hailsham conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate 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 commence 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 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 simultaneously with 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 bought a 2 bed flat in Hailsham, conveyancing formalities finalised 8 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding flats in Hailsham with a long lease are worth £236,000. The ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease expires on 21st October 2098
With only 75 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £8,600 and £9,800 as well as costs.
The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.
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