There are only 72 years remaining on my lease in Bodelwyddan. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Bodelwyddan.

Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Bodelwyddan. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The physical extent of the demise. This will be the flat itself but could also incorporate a loft or basement if appropriate.

You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

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

Repair and maintenance of the flat

Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)

What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

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

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Bodelwyddan. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Bodelwyddan from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bodelwyddan can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• Some Bodelwyddan leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual 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 freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unsettled. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Bodelwyddan home move. If a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

We expect to complete our sale of a £225000 garden flat in Bodelwyddan in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Bodelwyddan?

Bodelwyddan conveyancing on leasehold flats typically necessitates fees being invoiced by landlords agents :

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Bodelwyddan
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Bodelwyddan leasehold premises is £350. For Bodelwyddan 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 provide the information.

Bodelwyddan Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

It would be sensible to discover if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For instance plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Bodelwyddan. If you love the flatin Bodelwyddan however your dog can’t move with you then you have a very hard determination. What is the annual service fee and ground rent? The best form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this situation the lessees have control and although a managing agent is frequently retained where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bodelwyddan