I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years unexpired on my lease in Little Burstead. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. 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 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 have used your best endeavours to find the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Little Burstead.

Looking forward to complete next month on a studio apartment in Little Burstead. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Little Burstead should include some of the following:

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

I am looking at a couple of apartments in Little Burstead which have in the region of forty five years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Little Burstead. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Little Burstead where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Little Burstead conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence 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 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 before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 makes a Little Burstead lease unacceptable for security purposes?

Leasehold conveyancing in Little Burstead is not unique. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain sections are not included. 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 building
• 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. Lloyds TSB Bank, Barnsley Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Little Burstead Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Are there any major works in the near future that could add a premium to the maintenance fees? Be sure to enquire if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For instance it is fairly common in Little Burstead leases that pets are not allowed in in a block in Little Burstead. If you love the flatin Little Burstead however your dog is not allowed to move with you then you have a very hard compromise. The answer will be important as a) areas can result in problems in the block as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate where maintenance are not paid for b) if the tenants have an issue with the running of the building you will wish to know about it

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Little Burstead