Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Ruthin. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Ruthin - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I only have Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Ruthin. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. 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 lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Ruthin.

I own a leasehold flat in Ruthin. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Ruthin who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Ruthin conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Ruthin. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).

What makes a Ruthin lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Ruthin. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• 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

You could have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester 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 does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Ruthin Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

The majority of Ruthin leasehold apartments will have a service bill for the upkeep of the block set by the freeholder. Should you purchase the apartment you will have to meet this liability, usually in instalments during the year. This may differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, this is usually not a large amount, say around £50-£100 but you should to check as sometimes it could be prohibitively expensive. Where a Ruthin lease has less than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this will be. For most Ruthinlease extensions you would be required to have owned the property for a couple of years before you are entitled to exercise a lease extension. What is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the property?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Ruthin