My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Lechlade. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Lechlade who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Lechlade conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. 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 apartments in Lechlade which have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Lechlade. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise 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 extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Lechlade where we see a number of flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Lechlade conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate 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 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 prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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 purchaser.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Lechlade conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Lechlade conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Lechlade conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Lechlade from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Lechlade can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Lechlade charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Lechlade.

I inherited a leasehold flat in Lechlade, conveyancing having been completed in 2003. How much will my lease extension cost? Comparable properties in Lechlade with over 90 years remaining are worth £195,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2075

You have 50 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £39,900 and £46,200 plus costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Lechlade