Back In 2006, I bought a leasehold house in Shillington. Conveyancing and Platform Home Loans Ltd mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter 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 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Shillington who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Shillington conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Shillington both have about 50 years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Shillington. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Shillington. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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. It is an essential part 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).

I work for a long established estate agency in Shillington where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Shillington conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that 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 need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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 buyer.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Shillington with the intention of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Shillington can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Shillington leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. If you dont have the consents in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.

I invested in buying a garden flat in Shillington, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar flats in Shillington with a long lease are worth £235,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease runs out on 21st October 2082

With just 57 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £22,800 and £26,400 plus legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Shillington