I only have Fifty years unexpired on my lease in Porthleven. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Porthleven.

I today plan to offer on a house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Porthleven. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Porthleven ?

The majority of houses in Porthleven are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Porthleven in which case you should be looking for a Porthleven conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’spermission to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is located on an estate. Your conveyancer should advise you fully on all the issues.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Porthleven from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Porthleven can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Porthleven leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you fail to have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.

Some Porthleven leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.

If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

We expect to complete the sale of our £325000 garden flat in Porthleven in seven days. The freeholder has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Porthleven?

For most leasehold sales in Porthleven conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Porthleven
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Porthleven leasehold property is £350. For Porthleven conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide answers.

Are there frequently found problems that you see in leases for Porthleven properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Porthleven is not unique. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, Leeds Building Society, and TSB all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Porthleven - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

You should be aware that where the lease has less than eighty years it will impact the salability of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. A short lease means that you will most likely have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth finding out how much this will be. For most Porthlevenlease extensions you will need to own the premises for a couple of years in order to be eligible to carry out a lease extension. You should want to find out as much as possible about the company managing the block as they can either make your life much simpler or uncomfortable. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are frequently at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical matters like the cleanliness of the common parts. Enquire of other people what they think of their service. In conclusion, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the appropriate party and specifically what you get for your money. What is the name of the managing agents?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Porthleven