I have recently realised that I have 72 years remaining on my flat in Burton upon Trent. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

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 have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Burton upon Trent.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Burton upon Trent which have approximately 50 years left on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Burton upon Trent is a wasting asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the value of the property. For most buyers and lenders, leases with less than 75 years become less and less marketable. On a more positive note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Burton upon Trent conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Burton upon Trent where we see a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Burton upon Trent conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 buyer.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Burton upon Trent from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Burton upon Trent can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Burton upon Trent levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Burton upon Trent.

A minority of Burton upon Trent leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 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 marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unresolved.

If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Burton upon Trent conveyancing transaction. Where a reissued share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

Completion in due on our sale of a £400000 flat in Burton upon Trent next week. The freeholder has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Burton upon Trent?

For most leasehold sales in Burton upon Trent 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 conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Burton upon Trent
• 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 lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Burton upon Trent leasehold premises is £350. For Burton upon Trent 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.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Burton upon Trent, conveyancing was carried out in 2008. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Comparable properties in Burton upon Trent with an extended lease are worth £213,000. The ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease finishes on 21st October 2093

With just 68 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £13,300 and £15,400 plus professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Burton upon Trent