There are only Sixty One years unexpired on my lease in Mortimer. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application 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. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Mortimer.

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Mortimer. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Mortimer.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Mortimer. Conveyancing and Godiva Mortgages Ltd mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Mortimer who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Mortimer conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Mortimer. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before 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 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).

I acquired a 1st floor flat in Mortimer, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent properties in Mortimer with a long lease are worth £176,000. The ground rent is £55 charged once a year. The lease expires on 21st October 2084

With 60 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to be between £19,000 and £22,000 plus costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Mortimer