I only have Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Pocklington. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. For most situations a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Pocklington.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Pocklington.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Pocklington which have in the region of fifty years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Pocklington is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the salability of the premises. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with under 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more positive 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 a residence 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 Pocklington 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 They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. 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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Pocklington from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Pocklington can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Pocklington levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Pocklington.

Are there frequently found defects that you see in leases for Pocklington properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Pocklington is not unique. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• Insurance obligations
• 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

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. National Westminster Bank, Bank of Scotland, and Britannia all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I acquired a studio flat in Pocklington, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2001. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent properties in Pocklington with an extended lease are worth £248,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2090

You have 65 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £19,000 and £22,000 plus professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Pocklington