I only have Sixty One years left on my lease in Bridlington. I now wish 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Bridlington.

I am hoping to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Bridlington. Conveyancing lawyers assured me 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 Bridlington should include some of the following:

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark

Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder

You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?

Repair and maintenance of the flat

Responsibility for repairing the window frames

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 Bridlington please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Bridlington

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Bridlington where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Bridlington conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Bridlington conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Bridlington conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you speak with two or three firms including non Bridlington conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

What volume of lease extensions have they carried out in Bridlington in the last year?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £200000 apartment in Bridlington on Friday in a week. The management company has quoted £300 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 Bridlington?

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

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Bridlington
• 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 Bridlington leasehold property is £350. For Bridlington 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 answers.

Bridlington Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Queries before buying

Can you inform me if there are any major works anticipated that could add a premium to the service costs? Many Bridlington leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the building set by the landlord. If you buy the apartment you will have to pay this liability, normally periodically during the year. This may be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a large figure, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to enquire as occasionally it can be many hundreds of pounds. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bridlington