I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Bootle. Before I get started I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Bootle - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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 have recently realised that I have Fifty years left on my lease in Bootle. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. 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 apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the lessor. For most situations a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to 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 overseeing Bootle.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Bootle. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part 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 Bootle with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bootle can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Bootle levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bootle.

Some Bootle leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.

If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

We expect to complete our sale of a £325000 garden flat in Bootle on Thursday in a week. The management company has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Bootle?

Bootle conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes ordinarily involves fees being raised by management companies :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Bootle
• 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 Bootle leasehold premises is £350. For Bootle 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 the information.

I am the registered owner of a garden flat in Bootle, conveyancing was carried out 2002. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent properties in Bootle with an extended lease are worth £260,000. The ground rent is £65 invoiced annually. The lease terminates on 21st October 2081

With just 59 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £22,800 and £26,400 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bootle