I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Salford. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Salford - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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 Seventy years remaining on my flat in Salford. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Salford.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Salford.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you pay the invoice 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 until 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Salford. Conveyancing and Chelsea Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Salford who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Salford conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Salford where we see a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Salford conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

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. 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 prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Salford - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

The majority of Salford leasehold flats will incur a service bill for the upkeep of the building set on behalf of the freeholder. Should you acquire the apartment you will have to meet this liability, usually periodically throughout the year. This may be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, normally this is not a exorbitant figure, say about £50-£100 but you need to check it because occasionally it could be many hundreds of pounds. Please note if it is less than 80 years it will impact the value of the apartment. Check with your bank that they are happy with residual term of the lease. A short lease means that you will probably need a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out what this will be. For most Salfordlease extensions you would need to own the property for two years in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension. How much is the maintenance charge and ground rent on the flat?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Salford