Looking forward to complete next month on a garden flat in Towyn. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me next week. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Towyn should include some of the following:

• You should receive a copy of the lease

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Towyn. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Towyn who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

First contact HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Towyn conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a couple of flats in Towyn which have approximately forty five years left on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Towyn is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. For most buyers and banks, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. 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 Towyn 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 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 the agreed 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 work for a busy estate agent office in Towyn where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Towyn conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate 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 need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, 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 advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Towyn conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Towyn conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Towyn conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be useful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Towyn Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

What is the length of the lease? Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments? The prefered form of lease arrangement is where the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the tenants have being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually retained where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Towyn