Hay On Wye leasehold conveyancing: Q and A’s
There are only Fifty years left on my lease in Hay On Wye. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What are my options?
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 granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Hay On Wye.
I own a leasehold flat in Hay On Wye. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Hay On Wye 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 be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Hay On Wye conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.
I am attracted to a couple of flats in Hay On Wye both have approximately forty five years left on the leases. should I be concerned?
There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Hay On Wye is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the property. The majority of purchasers and banks, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Hay On Wye conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.
I am employed by a long established estate agency in Hay On Wye where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Hay On Wye conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?
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. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have 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 simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.
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.
Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Hay On Wye from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?
- A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hay On Wye can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
- Many freeholders or managing agents in Hay On Wye charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Hay On Wye.
I bought a 1st floor flat in Hay On Wye, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Hay On Wye with a long lease are worth £245,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 charged once a year. The lease expires on 21st October 2085
With just 60 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £24,700 and £28,600 plus costs.
The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.
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