I only have Sixty One years left on my flat in Haydock. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Haydock.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Haydock.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

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 management companies 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Haydock both have approximately 50 years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Haydock. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Haydock where we see a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Haydock conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, 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 buyer.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Haydock conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Haydock conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with two or three firms including non Haydock conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• What volume of lease extensions have they completed in Haydock in the last year?

Leasehold Conveyancing in Haydock - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

Who is in charge of the building? You should want to discover as much as you can concerning the managing agents as they will either make living at the property much easier or a lot more difficult. Being a leasehold owner you are often at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day matters such as the upkeep of the communal areas. Ask other tenants what they think of them. Finally, investigate as to the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the relevant party and precisely what it includes. The answer will be important as a) areas could result in problems for the block as the common areas may start to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the managing agents you will wish to know about it

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Haydock