I only have 68 years remaining on my lease in Malpas. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. 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 mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. On the whole a specialist should be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Malpas.

Expecting to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Malpas. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed flat in Malpas.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Malpas which have approximately 50 years unexpired on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Malpas. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Malpas. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. 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 own a 1 bedroom flat in Malpas, conveyancing having been completed in 1996. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Malpas with over 90 years remaining are worth £214,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease finishes on 21st October 2093

You have 68 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 plus costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Malpas