Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years left on my lease in Aylesbury. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord 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 extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Aylesbury.

Looking forward to complete next month on a leasehold property in Aylesbury. Conveyancing solicitors assured me 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 Aylesbury should include some of the following:

• The physical extent of the premises. This will be the flat itself but might incorporate a loft or cellar if appropriate.
• Defining your rights in respect of the communal areas in the building.For example, does the lease contain a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• 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
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I am attracted to a two maisonettes in Aylesbury which have in the region of 50 years remaining on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Aylesbury with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Aylesbury can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers lawyers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Aylesbury charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Aylesbury.
• A minority of Aylesbury leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unsettled.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy process and delays many a Aylesbury home move. If a duplicate share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £ 175000 apartment in Aylesbury in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Aylesbury?

Aylesbury conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not requires the purchaser’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions most will be willing to do so. They may invoice a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to sell the property.

I purchased a 1st floor flat in Aylesbury, conveyancing having been completed 8 years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar properties in Aylesbury with a long lease are worth £261,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease terminates on 21st October 2096

You have 70 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £8,600 and £9,800 plus professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending 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 additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.