Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Bolton. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Bolton - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I am intending to sublet my leasehold flat in Bolton. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask him. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Even though your last Bolton conveyancing lawyer is no longer around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is permitted. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you must seek permission via your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of first obtaining consent. Such consent must not not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If the lease does not allow you to sublet you should ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in Bolton. I now wish to extend my lease 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Bolton.

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

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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).

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Bolton what are the most frequent lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Bolton. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You may have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , Virgin Money, and Clydesdale all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Bolton - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Does the lease include onerous restrictions?