Fixed-fee leasehold conveyancing in Chalfont St Giles:

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Any conveyancing solicitor can theoretically deal with your leasehold conveyancing in Chalfont St Giles, your mortgage provider may unwilling to work with them if the firm are not on their list of approved solicitors for conveyancing

Recently asked questions relating to Chalfont St Giles leasehold conveyancing

I only have 68 years remaining on my lease in Chalfont St Giles. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

If 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 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 magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. 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 covering Chalfont St Giles.

Expecting to complete next month on a studio apartment in Chalfont St Giles. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Chalfont St Giles should include some of the following:

  • You should be sent a copy of the lease
  • Whether the lease restricts you from renting out the property, or working from home
  • Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
  • Repair and maintenance of the flat
  • The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
  • 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 included in your report on your leasehold property in Chalfont St Giles please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Chalfont St Giles

    • I have just appointed agents to market my garden apartment in Chalfont St Giles.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

    The sensible thing to do is discharge the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

    I work for a reputable estate agency in Chalfont St Giles where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Chalfont St Giles conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

    As long as the seller has owned the lease 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 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 disposal of the property.

    An alternative approach is 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 buyer.

    What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Chalfont St Giles conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

    When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Chalfont St Giles conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you speak with several firms including non Chalfont St Giles conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

    • How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
  • If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?

    • I acquired a studio flat in Chalfont St Giles, conveyancing formalities finalised 2004. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Corresponding properties in Chalfont St Giles with an extended lease are worth £211,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2098

    With 73 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £8,600 and £9,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

    The figure above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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    Lease Extensions in Chalfont St Giles