I only have Sixty One years left on my lease in Ampthill. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. 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 overseeing Ampthill.

Looking forward to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Ampthill. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark

Defining your legal entitlements in respect of common areas in the building.For instance, does the lease include a right of way over an accessway or hallways?

Are pets allowed in the flat?

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

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

What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Ampthill please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Ampthill

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just found out that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a leasehold house in Ampthill. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Ampthill are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Ampthill so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Ampthill conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the freeholder’spermission to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should appraise you on the various issues.

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

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Ampthill conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you talk with several firms including non Ampthill conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

What are the legal fees for lease extension work?

Completion in due on our sale of a £475000 garden flat in Ampthill in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £396 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Ampthill?

For most leasehold sales in Ampthill conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Ampthill
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Ampthill leasehold property is £350. For Ampthill conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide answers.

Ampthill Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

Its a good idea to discover as much as possible regarding the company managing the building as they will either make life much easier or a lot more difficult. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical issues such as the tidiness of the common parts. Enquire of other people whether they are happy with them. In conclusion, find out the dates that the maintenance charges are due to the managing agents and specifically what it includes. The best form of lease structure is if the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this arrangement the tenants have control and even though a managing agent is usually employed if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. How much is the service charge and ground rent on the property?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Ampthill