There are only Fifty years left on my lease in Birkenshaw. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that 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 enable the lease to be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. For most situations a specialist would be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Birkenshaw.

Looking forward to complete next month on a basement flat in Birkenshaw. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The physical extent of the premises. This will be the property itself but may incorporate a loft or basement if appropriate.

Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

Does the lease prevent you from renting out the flat, or working from home

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

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.

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Birkenshaw please enquire of your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Birkenshaw

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently been informed that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Birkenshaw. Conveyancing lawyers have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Birkenshaw are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Birkenshaw in which case you should be shopping around for a Birkenshaw conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example obtaining the landlord’spermission to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your conveyancer will report to you on the legal implications.

I am employed by a long established estate agent office in Birkenshaw where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Birkenshaw conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £300000 maisonette in Birkenshaw in 8 days. The managing agents has quoted £420 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Birkenshaw?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Birkenshaw conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Birkenshaw
• 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 conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Birkenshaw leasehold premises is £350. For Birkenshaw 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 obliged to supply the information.

Birkenshaw Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

It would be sensible to discover as much as you can about the company managing the block as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you will be in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day matters such as the tidiness of the common parts. Ask other people if they are happy with them. On a final note, be sure you understand the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the managing agents and precisely how they are spending that money. The majority of Birkenshaw leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the building invoiced by the landlord. Should you buy the property you will have to meet this charge, normally in instalments throughout the year. This could be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. There will also be a ground rent to be met yearly, this is usually not a exorbitant sum, say around £50-£100 but you need to enquire it because sometimes it can be prohibitively expensive. If a Birkenshaw lease has less than eighty years it will impact the value of the property. Check with your bank that they are content with the length of the lease. A short lease means that you will most likely need a lease extension sooner rather than later and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. Remember, in most cases you would be required to have owned the residence for two years in order to be legally able to carry out a lease extension.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Birkenshaw