Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years unexpired on my lease in Shinfield. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order 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 prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Shinfield.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently found out that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Shinfield. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Shinfield are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Shinfield in which case you should be shopping around for a Shinfield conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Shinfield which have about fifty years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Shinfield. The lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease shortens the value of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Shinfield where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Shinfield conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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 buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Shinfield with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Shinfield can be reduced if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Shinfield charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Shinfield.
• If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Shinfield home move. If a new share is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible 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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Shinfield - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

Where a Shinfield lease has less than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the flat. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are willing to go ahead with the loan given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of what this will be. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for 24 months before you are eligible to extend the lease. It is important to be aware whether fixing the lift or some other major work is anticipated that will be shared by the leasehold owners and will dramatically impact the level of the service fees or necessitate a one off invoice. How much is the ground rent and service charge?