There are only 72 years left on my lease in Radyr. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. 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 submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Radyr.

I've found a house that appears to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Radyr. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Radyr are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Radyr so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Radyr conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the freeholder’spermission to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will advise you fully on all the issues.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Radyr. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage went though with no issue. 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 practitioner in Radyr who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Radyr conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Radyr. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation 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. 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 employed by a long established estate agency in Radyr where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Radyr conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

Radyr Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

How many years remain on the lease? It is important to be aware if redecorating or some other major work is due in the foreseeable future that will be shared amongst the leaseholders and could well dramatically impact the level of the service costs or require a specific payment. Its a good idea to discover as much as you can regarding the company managing the building as they will either make living at the property much easier or uncomfortable. As the owner of a leasehold property you are frequently at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to practical matters such as the cleanliness of the communal areas. Don't be shy to ask other people what they think of their management. Finally, investigate as to the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the managing agents and precisely how they are spending that money.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Radyr