There are only 62 years unexpired on my lease in Maidenhead. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Maidenhead.

I own a leasehold flat in Maidenhead. Conveyancing and Skipton Building Society mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Maidenhead who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Maidenhead conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I work for a long established estate agent office in Maidenhead where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Maidenhead conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Maidenhead conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Maidenhead conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Maidenhead conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?
• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Are there common defects that you encounter in leases for Maidenhead properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Maidenhead. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Chelsea Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.

Maidenhead Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Please note that where the lease has fewer than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the property. Check with your lender that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will probably need a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most Maidenheadlease extensions you would be required to have owned the residence for two years before you are eligible to carry out a lease extension.