I only have 62 years left on my lease in Taplow. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Taplow.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Taplow which have about forty five years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the saleability of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

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

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 ensure 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 reputable estate agent office in Taplow where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Taplow conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that 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 has to be done before, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 Taplow lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Taplow. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Aldermore all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

Taplow Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

It is important to be aware if window replacement or some other major work is anticipated to be shared amongst the leasehold owners and could well materially impact the level of the maintenance costs or result in a specific invoice. The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this situation the tenants enjoy being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is frequently retained if the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. What restrictions are there in the Taplow Lease?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Taplow