Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in St Austell. Before I get started I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in St Austell - 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.

There are only 68 years unexpired on my lease in St Austell. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

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 enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing St Austell.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in St Austell. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in St Austell with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in St Austell can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? St Austell leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you dont have the approvals to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer before hand.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in St Austell what are the most frequent lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in St Austell. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• 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 will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. HSBC Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Clydesdale all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.

I am the registered owner of a basement flat in St Austell, conveyancing having been completed in 2009. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent properties in St Austell with over 90 years remaining are worth £203,000. The ground rent is £60 invoiced every year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2083

With only 58 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £22,800 and £26,400 as well as professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in St Austell