Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my lease in Nailsworth. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Nailsworth.

I am hoping to complete next month on a garden flat in Nailsworth. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Nailsworth should include some of the following:

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
• Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to common areas in the block.For example, does the lease provide for a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
• Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
• You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
• The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement apartment in Nailsworth.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you discharge 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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I own a leasehold house in Nailsworth. Conveyancing and Platform Home Loans Ltd mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Nailsworth who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Nailsworth conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I work for a busy estate agent office in Nailsworth where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Nailsworth conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can commence 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 sit tight for 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 at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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 purchaser.

Nailsworth Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

Where a Nailsworth lease has fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the apartment. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out how much this will be. For most Nailsworthlease extensions you will be be obliged to have owned the property for a couple of years before you are eligible to extend the lease. It would be prudent to discover as much as possible regarding the managing agents as they will either make your living at the property much simpler or problematic. As the owner of a leasehold property you are frequently at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to practical issues like the cleanliness of the communal areas. Don't be shy to ask prospective neighbours what they think of their management. In conclusion, be sure you know the dates that the service charges are due to the appropriate party and specifically how they are spending the funds.