I only have 62 years remaining on my flat in Llanrwst. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. In some cases a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Llanrwst.

Back In 2008, I bought a leasehold flat in Llanrwst. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage went though with no issue. 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 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Llanrwst who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Llanrwst conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Llanrwst. Do I have any liability for 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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Llanrwst with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Llanrwst can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Llanrwst levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Llanrwst.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Llanrwst what are the most frequent lease defects?

Leasehold conveyancing in Llanrwst is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• 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 can cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, Coventry Building Society, and Britannia all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Llanrwst - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

The prefered form of lease arrangement is where the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the leaseholders enjoy being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is often employed if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. Best to be warned if window replacement or some other significant cost is due shortly that will be shared by the leasehold owners and may well dramatically impact the level of the service charges or necessitate a one off payment. Please note that where the lease has fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the value of the apartment. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely need a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the residence for 24 months in order to be entitled to extend the lease.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Llanrwst