I only have Sixty One years unexpired on my lease in Kendal. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. 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 submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Kendal.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Kendal. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me next week. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Kendal should include some of the following:

• Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
• Does the lease prevent you from letting out the property, or having a home office for business
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Kendal where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Kendal conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start 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 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 prior to, 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 purchaser.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Kendal from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kendal can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Kendal levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kendal.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Kendal leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such works. If you fail to have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.
• If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

What makes a Kendal lease defective?

Leasehold conveyancing in Kendal is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• 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.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Nationwide Building Society, Barnsley Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have express requirements 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, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I purchased a split level flat in Kendal, conveyancing was carried out 4 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Kendal with a long lease are worth £204,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2095

With just 69 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.