There are only 72 years left on my flat in Yate. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Yate.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Yate. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Yate should include some of the following:

• You should receive a copy of the lease

I am looking at a two flats in Yate both have in the region of 50 years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Yate is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. For most purchasers and banks, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. 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 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 Yate 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 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.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Yate where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Yate conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities 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 can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Yate conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Yate conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non Yate 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 of use:

• How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?

Yate Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

For many Yate leaseholds the cost for major works are not built into the maintenance charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Yate ask tenants to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. The answer will be useful as a) areas could cause problems in the block as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where maintenance are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have a dispute with the running of the building you will wish to have complete disclosure Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Yate