I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in St Mawes. Before diving in I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in St Mawes - 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 am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in St Mawes which have about fifty years unexpired on the leases. should I be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in St Mawes is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with under eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of a residence with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with St Mawes conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in St Mawes. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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 work for a busy estate agency in St Mawes where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local St Mawes conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as 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.

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

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in St Mawes can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in St Mawes levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in St Mawes.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in St Mawes state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a new share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a St Mawes conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if 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 double-check by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

I invested in buying a garden flat in St Mawes, conveyancing formalities finalised 2003. 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 flats in St Mawes with a long lease are worth £191,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 per annum. The lease runs out on 21st October 2080

With 54 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £28,500 and £33,000 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.