I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in St Asaph. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in St Asaph - 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 Fifty years remaining on my flat in St Asaph. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering St Asaph.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in St Asaph. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, 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 am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in St Asaph where we see a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local St Asaph conveyancing solicitors. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate 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. 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 needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with 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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £150000 flat in St Asaph next Tuesday . The freeholder has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in St Asaph?

St Asaph conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes more often than not involves the buyer’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be willing to assist. They are entitled invoice a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

St Asaph Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Plenty St Asaph leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the building levied by the management company. If you buy the property you will have to pay this amount, usually periodically during the year. This can vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. In all probability there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant figure, say about £25-£75 but you should to enquire as on occasion it could be many hundreds of pounds. On the whole the outlay for major works are not included within service charges, although some managing agents in St Asaph require leaseholders to pay into a sinking fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for major works. Is anyone aware of any major works anticipated that will increase the service costs?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in St Asaph