I have recently realised that I have 62 years remaining on my flat in Ringwood. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder 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 apply 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. However, you will be required 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 would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Ringwood.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Ringwood both have about 50 years remaining on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Ringwood is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. For most purchasers and banks, leases with under eighty 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 premises 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 Ringwood conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend 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.

I work for a reputable estate agent office in Ringwood where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Ringwood conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities 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. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, 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 buyer.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Ringwood conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Ringwood conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Ringwood conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Ringwood who can give a testimonial?

What are the legal fees for lease extension work?

Completion in due on our sale of a £250000 garden flat in Ringwood on Monday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £396 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Ringwood?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Ringwood 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-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Ringwood
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Ringwood leasehold premises is £350. For Ringwood 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 supply answers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Ringwood - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

You should want to discover as much as possible concerning the managing agents as they will either make your living at the property much simpler or uncomfortable. Being a leasehold owner you are often in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to every day matters such as the tidiness of the common parts. Don't be afraid to ask prospective neighbours whether they are happy with them. In conclusion, find out the dates that the maintenance fees are due to the managing agents and precisely how they are spending that money. How long is the Lease? The best form of lease arrangement is if the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the leaseholders have being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is often employed where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Ringwood