I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Totnes. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Totnes - 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 68 years unexpired on my flat in Totnes. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Totnes.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Totnes. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Totnes who previously acted has long since retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Totnes conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful 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 Totnes both have in the region of forty five years remaining on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Totnes is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the value of the premises. The majority of buyers and mortgage companies, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises 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 Totnes conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Totnes from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Totnes can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Totnes levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Totnes.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Totnes leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. If you dont have the paperwork in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property 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 completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of 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 better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate is often a time consuming process and delays many a Totnes home move. If a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

Totnes Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the lessees have control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is frequently employed if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders.