I only have Seventy years left on my flat in Wallasey. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. For most situations a specialist would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Wallasey.

I have just appointed agents to market my basement flat in Wallasey.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you clear the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it more attractive. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Wallasey. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Wallasey ?

The majority of houses in Wallasey are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Wallasey so you should seriously consider looking for a Wallasey conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a tenant you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.

I own a leasehold house in Wallasey. Conveyancing and Lloyds TSB Bank mortgage organised. 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 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Wallasey who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Wallasey conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Wallasey where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Wallasey conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence 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 for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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.

Wallasey Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

It would be prudent to discover as much as you can regarding the company managing the block as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the owner of a leasehold property you are often at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to every day matters like the upkeep of the communal areas. Enquire of other people what they think of them. Finally, be sure you know the dates that you are obliged pay the maintenance charge to the managing agents and precisely what you get for your money. 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 even though a managing agent is frequently retained where the building is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. Who is in charge of the building?

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Lease Extensions in Wallasey