I only have 62 years remaining on my lease in Llangammarch Wells. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

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 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 magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Llangammarch Wells.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Llangammarch Wells which have in the region of fifty years left on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly 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 companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Llangammarch Wells. 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 owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, 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 employed by a long established estate agent office in Llangammarch Wells where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Llangammarch Wells conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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 purchaser.

What are your top tips when it comes to appointing a Llangammarch Wells conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Llangammarch Wells conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with several firms including non Llangammarch Wells conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How many lease extensions has the firm conducted in Llangammarch Wells in the last twenty four months?

Llangammarch Wells Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

It would be sensible to find out as much as possible about the company managing the building as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you are often in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical issues such as the cleanliness of the common parts. Enquire of prospective neighbours what they think of their service. Finally, be sure you discover the dates that the maintenance fees are due to the managing agents and specifically what it includes. Please note if it is no more than 80 years it will affect the value of the flat. It is worth checking with your lender that they are content with the length of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the residence for a couple of years before you are eligible to extend the lease. How much is the annual maintenance fee and ground rent?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Llangammarch Wells