Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Leighton Buzzard. Before I get started I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Leighton Buzzard - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years remaining on my lease in Leighton Buzzard. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. In some cases a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Leighton Buzzard.

I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed flat in Leighton Buzzard.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Leighton Buzzard. Conveyancing and National Westminster Bank 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 Leighton Buzzard who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Leighton Buzzard conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

What are the frequently found problems that you see in leases for Leighton Buzzard properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Leighton Buzzard is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• 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 TSB 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 does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

I purchased a basement flat in Leighton Buzzard, conveyancing formalities finalised 7 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Leighton Buzzard with an extended lease are worth £195,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2078

With 52 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £32,300 and £37,400 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.