I've found a house that appears to be perfect, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have since found out that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in St Ives. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in St Ives are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in St Ives in which case you should be looking for a St Ives conveyancing practitioner 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. As a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the landlord’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your lawyer should advise you fully on all the issues.

Back In 2008, I bought a leasehold house in St Ives. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing solicitor in St Ives who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a St Ives conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in St Ives which have in the region of 50 years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A 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 costly to extend the lease. This is why it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in St Ives where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local St Ives conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. 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 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 buyer.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in St Ives from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in St Ives can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in St Ives levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in St Ives.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy formality and slows down many a St Ives home move. If a new share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is under 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

St Ives Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask before buying

If a St Ives lease has fewer than 80 years it will affect the marketability of the property. Check with your bank that they are happy with the length of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth finding out what this will be. For most St Iveslease extensions you will need to own the premises for two years before you are eligible to extend the lease. The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the lessees have control and even though a managing agent is usually employed where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants.