My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Penrhyn Bay. Conveyancing and Halifax mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing solicitor in Penrhyn Bay who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Penrhyn Bay conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a two apartments in Penrhyn Bay which have in the region of fifty years remaining on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Penrhyn Bay is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the property. For most buyers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Penrhyn Bay conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Penrhyn Bay. Do I have any liability for 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. 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 am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Penrhyn Bay where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Penrhyn Bay conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities 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 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 wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 purchaser.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Penrhyn Bay with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Penrhyn Bay can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Penrhyn Bay state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. Where you dont have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Penrhyn Bay - Sample of Queries before buying

Most Penrhyn Bay leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service bill for maintenance of the block invoiced on behalf of the landlord. Where you buy the property you will have to meet this amount, normally in instalments accross the year. This can be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge to be met yearly, ordinarily this is not a significant amount, say around £50-£100 but you should to enquire as sometimes it can be prohibitively expensive. The best form of lease structure is where the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the tenants have control and even though a managing agent is often retained if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. You should be aware that where the lease has no more than eighty years it will impact the marketability of the property. 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 almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. For most Penrhyn Baylease extensions you will be required to have been the owner of the property for a couple of years in order to be entitled to extend the lease.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Penrhyn Bay