Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 68 years left on my lease in Hartlepool. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. For most situations a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Hartlepool.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement apartment in Hartlepool.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is discharge 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 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've found a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have since discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Hartlepool. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Hartlepool ?

Most houses in Hartlepool are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Hartlepool in which case you should be looking for a Hartlepool conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will advise you fully on all the issues.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Hartlepool. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part 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 a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Hartlepool where we see a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Hartlepool conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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 proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. 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 sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

Hartlepool Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Many Hartlepool leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the block invoiced by the management company. Should you buy the flat you will have to pay this amount, normally quarterly during the year. This could differ from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. In all probability there will be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a significant figure, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to enquire as on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds. It would be prudent to discover if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. For example some leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Hartlepool. If you love the apartmentin Hartlepool however your dog can’t live with you then you will be faced difficult choice. What is the annual service fee and ground rent?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Hartlepool