I only have 72 years remaining on my flat in Tarporley. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. 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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. For most situations a specialist may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Tarporley.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Tarporley. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Tarporley who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Tarporley conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I work for a busy estate agency in Tarporley where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Tarporley conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start 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 proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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 buyer.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Tarporley conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Tarporley conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Tarporley conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Tarporley who can give a testimonial?
• What are the legal fees for lease extension work?

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Tarporley what are the most common lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in Tarporley is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions 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 building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Santander, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Barclays Direct all have express conveyancing instructions 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, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Tarporley Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before buying

If a Tarporley lease has less than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the flat. It is worth checking with your bank that they are content with the length of the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will be be obliged to have been the owner of the property for a couple of years in order to be entitled to extend the lease. Most Tarporley leasehold flats will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the building levied on behalf of the freeholder. If you acquire the property you will have to meet this liability, usually in instalments during the year. This may be anything from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common areas. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a large sum, say about £50-£100 but you need to enquire as occasionally it can be many hundreds of pounds.