I only have Sixty One years left on my lease in Ilfracombe. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. 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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Ilfracombe.

I’m about to sell my garden flat in Ilfracombe.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the service charge 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 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Ilfracombe. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

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. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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 are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Ilfracombe conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Ilfracombe conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Ilfracombe conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

What makes a Ilfracombe lease unacceptable for security purposes?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Ilfracombe. All leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, The Mortgage Works, and Alliance & Leicester all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

Ilfracombe Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments? Is anyone aware of any major works in the planning that will add a premium to the maintenance fees? The majority of Ilfracombe leasehold apartments will have a service bill for the upkeep of the building levied on behalf of the management company. Where you buy the flat you will have to pay this amount, normally in instalments during the year. This may be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, this is usually not a large amount, say approximately £50-£100 but you should to check as occasionally it could be surprisingly expensive.

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Lease Extensions in Ilfracombe