I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years left on my lease in High Peak. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document which can be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering High Peak.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in High Peak. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. 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 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 employed by a busy estate agency in High Peak where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local High Peak conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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 can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as 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.

What are your top tips when it comes to appointing a High Peak conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a High Peak conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with several firms including non High Peak conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How many lease extensions have they carried out in High Peak in the last 12 months?
• Can they put you in touch with client in High Peak who can give a testimonial?

What are the frequently found problems that you witness in leases for High Peak properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in High Peak. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Santander, Chelsea Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

High Peak Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying

The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the leaseholders have control and even though a managing agent is usually retained if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Generally speaking the outlay for major works tend not to be built into the maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in High Peak ask tenants to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. Is anyone aware of any major works on the horizon that will increase the maintenance costs?