I have recently realised that I have 62 years left on my lease in Hengoed. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application 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 prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. On the whole a specialist would be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Hengoed.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Hengoed. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Hengoed who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Hengoed conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in Hengoed both have in the region of forty five years remaining on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Hengoed. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Hengoed where we see a few flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Hengoed conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer 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.

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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Hengoed conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Hengoed conveyancing practice) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with several firms including non Hengoed conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be useful:

• What volume of lease extensions has the firm completed in Hengoed in the last 12 months?
• What are the charges for lease extension work?

Leasehold Conveyancing in Hengoed - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

Are there any major works in the near future that will increase the maintenance costs?