Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Llandudno. Before diving in I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Llandudno - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

There are only Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Llandudno. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that 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 prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Llandudno.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Llandudno. Conveyancing and Godiva Mortgages Ltd mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Llandudno who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Llandudno conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Llandudno from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Llandudno can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Llandudno leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you dont have the paperwork in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.
• Some Llandudno leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy process and slows down many a Llandudno home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

What makes a Llandudno lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Llandudno. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Accord Mortgages Ltd, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Bank of Ireland all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I bought a leasehold flat in Llandudno, conveyancing was carried out 2000. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent properties in Llandudno with a long lease are worth £211,000. The ground rent is £55 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2097

With only 71 years unexpired the likely cost is going to range between £9,500 and £11,000 plus professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.