Over the last few months I have been searching for a flat up to £235,500 and found one round the corner in Morley I like with a park and station nearby, however it only has 51 years unexpired on the lease. I can't really find anything else in Morley in this price bracket, so just wondered if I would be making a grave error buying a lease with such few years left?

If you require a home loan the remaining unexpired lease term will likely be problematic. Reduce the price by the amount the lease extension will cost if it has not already been discounted. If the current proprietor has owned the property for at least twenty four months you could request that they start the process of the extension and then assign it to you. An additional ninety years can be extended on to the current lease term and have £0 ground rent by law. You should consult your conveyancing solicitor regarding this matter.

Do I need to be concerned by brokers that I am dealing with are suggesting a web based conveyancing firm rather than a local Morley conveyancing firm?

As with many service providers, often recommendations from connections can be worth their weight in gold. Yet there are lots of players in a conveyancing matter; estate agents, mortgage brokers and mortgage companies might all recommend conveyancers to select. On occasion the conveyancers might be known to one of the organisations as one of the best in their field, but sometimes there might be a financial incentive behind the endorsement. You have the right to select your preferred lawyer. You need to be aware that most lenders specify a panel list of lawyers you are obliged to use for the mortgage related work in your conveyancing.

In my capacity as executor for the estate of my uncle I am selling a residence in Cardiff but reside in Morley. My solicitor (who is 250 kilometers awayhas requested that I sign a stat dec before completion. Can you recommend a conveyancing solicitor in Morley who can attest and place their company stamp on the document?

strictly speaking you are not likely to need to have the documents attested by a conveyancing solicitor. Normally or notary public or qualified solicitor will suffice regardless of whether they are Morley based

I am looking at a two apartments in Morley both have about fifty years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Morley is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the property. For most buyers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive 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 property 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 Morley conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending 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 any new 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.

I bought a ground floor flat in Morley, conveyancing was carried out November 1996. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Morley with an extended lease are worth £190,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2086

You have 61 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £19,000 and £22,000 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

My sealed bid on semi in Morley has been agreed to, the seller does nevertheless have a dependent purchase. The vendors have offered on somewhere, however it’s not been accepted yet, and has viewings of other properties booked. I have chosen a local conveyancing lawyer in Morley. What should be my next step? When do I get the mortgage application with HSBC going with HSBC?

It is standard to have apprehensions where there is an associated chain given your reluctance to incur costs too early (home loan application is in the region of one thousand pounds, then survey, Morley conveyancing search costs, etc). First, you should check that your lawyer is on the HSBC approved list. As to the next phase this very much dictated by the uniqueness of your case, desire for this property and on the state of the market. In a rising market some buyers will apply for a home loan with HSBC and pay for the valuation and only if it comes back ok would they ask their solicitor to proceed with the conveyancing in Morley.