Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years left on my flat in Peak District. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Peak District.

Expecting to exchange soon on a garden flat in Peak District. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Peak District should include some of the following:

• Defining your rights in relation to common areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease include a right of way over a path or hallways?

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to be perfect, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have since discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Peak District. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Peak District ?

The majority of houses in Peak District are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Peak District in which case you should be shopping around for a Peak District conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the freeholder’spermission to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should report to you on the legal implications.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Peak District. 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 owner 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 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 work for a busy estate agent office in Peak District where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Peak District conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 purchaser.

Peak District Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Please note that where the lease has fewer than eighty years it will impact the marketability of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are content with residual term of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will be required to have owned the premises for two years in order to be eligible to extend the lease. What prohibitions are contained in the Peak District Lease? It is important to be aware if changing the roof or some other major work is anticipated to be shared by the leaseholders and may well materially increase the the service fees or result in a specific invoice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Peak District