There are only Sixty One years left on my flat in Liverpool. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. In some cases a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Liverpool.

Looking forward to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Liverpool. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Defining your legal entitlements in respect of common areas in the building.For instance, does the lease contain a right of way over a path or hallways?

I own a leasehold flat in Liverpool. Conveyancing and Bank of Ireland mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Liverpool who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of 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 Liverpool conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Liverpool. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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 ensure 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 a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Liverpool where we have witnessed a number of flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Liverpool conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities 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 sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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.

I own a leasehold flat in Liverpool, conveyancing formalities finalised 1999. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Comparable properties in Liverpool with a long lease are worth £257,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2099

With just 74 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £11,400 and £13,200 plus professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Liverpool