I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Yelverton. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Yelverton - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

There are only Sixty One years remaining on my flat in Yelverton. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 enable the lease to be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Yelverton.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden flat in Yelverton.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a quarterly service charge demand – 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 management companies 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Yelverton which have in the region of 50 years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Yelverton is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. For most buyers and banks, leases with under 75 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 premises 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 Yelverton conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. 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've recently bought a leasehold house in Yelverton. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Leasehold Conveyancing in Yelverton - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

For most Yelverton leaseholds the outlay for major works are not wrapped into the maintenance charges, albeit that some managing agents in Yelverton ask leasehold owners to contribute towards a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. How much is the ground rent and service charge? Many Yelverton leasehold flats will incur a service bill for maintenance of the building invoiced on behalf of the management company. Should you acquire the flat you will have to pay this contribution, normally periodically during the year. This could differ from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common areas. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a large figure, say around £50-£100 but you should to enquire as on occasion it can be prohibitively expensive.

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Lease Extensions in Yelverton