My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Colwyn Bay. Conveyancing and Platform Home Loans Ltd mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Colwyn Bay who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Colwyn Bay conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of maisonettes in Colwyn Bay both have about forty five years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Colwyn Bay is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the salability of the property. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. On a more positive 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 property 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 Colwyn Bay 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Colwyn Bay. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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).

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Colwyn Bay conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Colwyn Bay conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you talk with several firms including non Colwyn Bay conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

• What volume of lease extensions have they completed in Colwyn Bay in the last 12 months?
• What are the legal fees for lease extension work?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Colwyn Bay from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Colwyn Bay can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Colwyn Bay levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Colwyn Bay.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Colwyn Bay state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Where you fail to have the paperwork to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor before hand.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Colwyn Bay Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Make sure you find out if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example plenty of leases prohibit pets being permitted in in a block in Colwyn Bay. If you love the propertyin Colwyn Bay but your dog is not allowed to live with you then you will be presented with a difficult determination. How much is the yearly maintenance fee and ground rent?