I have recently realised that I have 62 years remaining on my lease in Wantage. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Wantage.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed flat in Wantage.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you clear the invoice 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 until 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 a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Wantage where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Wantage conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Wantage with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Wantage can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Wantage leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you dont have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance.

What makes a Wantage lease defective?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Wantage. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• 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

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, Coventry Building Society, and Aldermore all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

I am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in Wantage, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2003. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Wantage with over 90 years remaining are worth £237,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2077

With only 51 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £35,200 and £40,600 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Wantage