There are only Fifty years left on my lease in North Ferriby. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

If you qualify, 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 mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. On the whole a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing North Ferriby.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in North Ferriby. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been appointed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in North Ferriby ?

The majority of houses in North Ferriby are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in North Ferriby in which case you should be shopping around for a North Ferriby conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example obtaining the landlord’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will appraise you on the various issues.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in North Ferriby. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in North Ferriby who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a North Ferriby conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in North Ferriby. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. 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).

What makes a North Ferriby lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in North Ferriby. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, Skipton Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

North Ferriby Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

What is the name of the managing agents? Is there a share of the freehold?