I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Prescot. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Prescot - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

I have recently realised that I have 72 years left on my flat in Prescot. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

If you qualify, 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 mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. In some cases a specialist would be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Prescot.

Expecting to complete next month on a leasehold property in Prescot. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The total extent of the premises. This will be the flat itself but could also include a roof space or cellar if appropriate.
• Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Prescot which have in the region of forty five years left on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Prescot. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Prescot where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Prescot conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to 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 needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Prescot - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

Most Prescot leasehold apartments will have a service charge for the upkeep of the building levied by the freeholder. Should you acquire the flat you will have to meet this contribution, usually quarterly throughout the year. This could be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent to be met annual, this is usually not a large sum, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to check as on occasion it can be prohibitively expensive. How much is the annual service fee and ground rent? The prefered form of lease structure is if the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the tenants enjoy being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is usually employed where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants.