There are only Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in Mudeford. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. On the whole a specialist may be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Mudeford.

I am attracted to a two apartments in Mudeford which have about fifty years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Mudeford. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Mudeford. Am I liable to pay 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. However, 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).

I work for a long established estate agency in Mudeford where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Mudeford conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as 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 buyer.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Mudeford what are the most common lease defects?

Leasehold conveyancing in Mudeford is not unique. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• 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

You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Birmingham Midshires, The Mortgage Works, and Bank of Ireland all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

I am the registered owner of a leasehold flat in Mudeford, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in Mudeford with a long lease are worth £254,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2091

You have 71 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £14,300 and £16,400 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Mudeford