There are only Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Salcombe. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent would be useful to try and locate and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Salcombe.

I am looking at a couple of flats in Salcombe which have about fifty years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Salcombe. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is advisable to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Salcombe conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Salcombe conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you speak with several firms including non Salcombe conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Salcombe who can give a testimonial?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Salcombe with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Salcombe can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Salcombe state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. If you dont have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor before hand.
• Some Salcombe leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly 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 buyers or their lawyers.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is under 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Salcombe what are the most frequent lease defects?

Leasehold conveyancing in Salcombe is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• 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 have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Coventry Building Society, and Bank of Ireland 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 does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to pull out.

Salcombe Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

Its a good idea to discover as much as possible about the company managing the building as they will either make living at the property much easier or much more difficult. Being a leasehold owner you will be in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to daily issues such as the cleanliness of the common parts. Ask other people if they are happy with their management. Finally, find out the dates that the maintenance charges are due to the managing agents and precisely how they are spending that money.