There are only 62 years left on my flat in Chatteris. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

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 demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Chatteris.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Chatteris. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they report fully next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

• You should receive a copy of the lease

Defining your rights in relation to the communal areas in the building.For instance, does the lease permit a right of way over an accessway or hallways?

Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

Whether the lease restricts you from renting out the flat, or working from home

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?

Responsibility for repairing the window frames

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Chatteris please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Chatteris

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

In a situation 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 be sure 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).

All being well we will complete our sale of a £150000 maisonette in Chatteris in nine days. The managing agents has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Chatteris?

Chatteris conveyancing on leasehold apartments nine out of ten times involves fees being levied by freeholders :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Chatteris
• 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 Chatteris leasehold property is £350. For Chatteris 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 answers.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Chatteris what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Chatteris. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Virgin Money, and TSB all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Chatteris Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Who are the managing agents? The best form of lease arrangement is if the freehold title is owned by the leaseholders. In this scenario the leaseholders have control and although a managing agent is often employed where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Many Chatteris leasehold apartments will incur a service bill for the upkeep of the block levied on behalf of the management company. Should you acquire the flat you will have to pay this contribution, usually in instalments during the year. This may vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. In all probability there will be a ground rent to be met annual, this is usually not a exorbitant amount, say around £50-£100 but you should to enquire it because occasionally it can be many hundreds of pounds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Chatteris