I only have Sixty One years left on my flat in Sacriston. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Sacriston.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden flat in Sacriston.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is pay 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 unless 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.

Back In 2007, I bought a leasehold house in Sacriston. Conveyancing and TSB mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing solicitor in Sacriston who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Sacriston conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Sacriston where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Sacriston conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence 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 sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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 purchaser.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Sacriston what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Sacriston. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Nationwide Building Society, Skipton Building Society, and Britannia 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 is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Sacriston Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

The majority of Sacriston leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service bill for maintenance of the building set by the landlord. Should you purchase the flat you will have to pay this charge, normally periodically during the year. This may vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. In all probability there will be a ground rent to be met annual, normally this is not a exorbitant amount, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to enquire as sometimes it can be many hundreds of pounds. Make sure you investigate if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For example plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Sacriston. If you like the propertyin Sacriston yet your cat is not allowed to live with you then you will be faced hard determination.