Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years unexpired on my flat in Prescot. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Prescot.

Expecting to exchange soon on a garden flat in Prescot. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Prescot both have about forty five years left on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Prescot is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the property. The majority of purchasers and banks, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises 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 a residence 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 Prescot conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend 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 the agreed 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.

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

If you are instructing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Prescot conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you talk with two or three firms including non Prescot conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How many lease extensions has the firm completed in Prescot in the last year?

We expect to complete the disposal of our £175000 maisonette in Prescot next Friday . The management company has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Prescot?

Prescot conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not necessitates the purchaser’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be willing to assist. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it exceeds £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

Prescot Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

Be sure to find out if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For instance plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in in a block in Prescot. If you like the apartmentin Prescot however your cat is not allowed to make the move with you then you will be presented with a difficult compromise. How is the lease structured? This information is important as a) areas could cause problems for the building as the communal areas may begin to deteriorate where repairs are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the managing agents you will want to know about it

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Prescot