I only have 68 years remaining on my flat in Colyers. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, 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 enable the lease to be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Colyers.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Colyers. Conveyancing advisers have not yet been appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Colyers ?

The majority of houses in Colyers are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Colyers in which case you should be shopping around for a Colyers conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the freeholder’spermission to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your solicitor will appraise you on the various issues.

I am attracted to a two flats in Colyers which have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Colyers is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the salability of the property. The majority of purchasers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Colyers conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Colyers. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. A critical element 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Colyers with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Colyers can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Colyers state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Where you dont have the paperwork in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in advance.
• If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy formality and delays many a Colyers home move. If a duplicate share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is below 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

I inherited a ground-floor 1960’s flat in Colyers. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium due for a lease extension?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Colyers conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Colyers premises is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 76 years.

Colyers Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before buying

The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the lessees enjoy being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually employed if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders.