I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Hazlemere both have about fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Hazlemere. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Hazlemere. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. It is an essential part 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 a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Hazlemere where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Hazlemere conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed 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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £250000 garden flat in Hazlemere next week. The freeholder has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Hazlemere?

Hazlemere conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes ordinarily involves administration charges raised by freeholders :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Hazlemere
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Hazlemere leasehold premises is £350. For Hazlemere conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to supply the information.

What makes a Hazlemere lease problematic?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Hazlemere. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Leeds Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

I invested in buying a leasehold flat in Hazlemere, conveyancing formalities finalised 8 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Hazlemere with an extended lease are worth £180,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 invoiced every year. The lease expires on 21st October 2081

With only 55 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £24,700 and £28,600 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Hazlemere