I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Tintagel. Before I get started I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Tintagel - 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 62 years left on my flat in Tintagel. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply 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 Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Tintagel.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Tintagel. Am I liable to pay 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).

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Tintagel conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Tintagel conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Tintagel conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

What are the common defects that you come across in leases for Tintagel properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Tintagel. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts 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

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Halifax, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I purchased a 2 bed flat in Tintagel, conveyancing was carried out 1997. 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? Similar flats in Tintagel with an extended lease are worth £214,000. The ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2076

You have 54 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £32,300 and £37,400 plus professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Tintagel