There are only 68 years unexpired on my lease in Perry Barr. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Perry Barr.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have since been informed that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a leasehold house in Perry Barr. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Perry Barr ?

Most houses in Perry Barr 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. We note that you are purchasing in Perry Barr so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Perry Barr conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in advising on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the freeholder’sconsent to carry out alterations. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is located on an estate. Your conveyancer will appraise you on the various issues.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Perry Barr. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

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. 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).

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Perry Barr where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Perry Barr conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer need not have 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.

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.

What makes a Perry Barr lease unmortgageable?

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

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, Skipton Building Society, and Britannia all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Perry Barr Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Generally speaking the outlay for major works are not wrapped into the maintenance charges, although some managing agents in Perry Barr require leasehold owners to contribute towards a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. The prefered form of lease structure is if the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the leaseholders enjoy control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often retained where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders.