Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Southport. I need 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 enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Southport.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to meet my requirements, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently been informed that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Southport. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Southport ?

The majority of houses in Southport are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Southport so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Southport conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example obtaining the landlord’spermission to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Southport which have about fifty years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Southport. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is advisable to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Southport where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Southport conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

What makes a Southport lease defective?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Southport. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, Bank of Scotland, and Clydesdale all have very detailed 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 provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

I acquired a 1 bedroom flat in Southport, conveyancing was carried out 3 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent properties in Southport with over 90 years remaining are worth £210,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease runs out on 21st October 2090

With 65 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £12,400 and £14,200 plus costs.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Southport