Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in West Derby. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

If 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing West Derby.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in West Derby. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to be perfect, at a great price which is making it more attractive. I have just been informed that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns purchasing a house with a leasehold title in West Derby. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in West Derby ?

Most houses in West Derby 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 West Derby in which case you should be shopping around for a West Derby conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in dealing with 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 such as obtaining the landlord’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your lawyer should appraise you on the various issues.

I own a leasehold flat in West Derby. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in West Derby who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a West Derby conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I work for a busy estate agent office in West Derby where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local West Derby conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that 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. This means that the proposed purchaser 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 at the same time as completion of the sale.

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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in West Derby - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

The prefered form of lease structure is where the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the leaseholders have control and even though a managing agent is frequently employed if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? If a West Derby lease has no more than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the flat. Check with your mortgage company that they are happy with the length of the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will probably require a lease extension at some point and it is worth finding out what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will need to own the property for a couple of years in order to be entitled to extend the lease.

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Lease Extensions in West Derby