There are only Seventy years left on my flat in Halstead. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

If you qualify, 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. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Halstead.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor flat in Halstead.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the invoice 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 managing agents 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 work for a busy estate agent office in Halstead where we see a number of leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Halstead conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means 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 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 buyer.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Halstead conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Halstead conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with two or three firms including non Halstead conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?
• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Halstead with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Halstead can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Halstead levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Halstead.
• Some Halstead leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain 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 buyers or their solicitors.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Organising a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Halstead home move. If a new share is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Halstead - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

Please note that where the lease has fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your lender that they are happy with residual term of the lease. A short lease means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you would be required to have owned the residence for 24 months before you are entitled to carry out a lease extension.