I only have Sixty One years unexpired on my lease in Chelmsford. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. On the whole a specialist should be useful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Chelmsford.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to meet my requirements, at a reasonable figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just been informed that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a leasehold house in Chelmsford. Conveyancing solicitors have are soon to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Chelmsford ?

The majority of houses in Chelmsford are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Chelmsford so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Chelmsford conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will report to you on the legal implications.

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Chelmsford conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Chelmsford conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Chelmsford conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

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

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Chelmsford from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Chelmsford can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Chelmsford state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Where you fail to have the approvals in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.
• Some Chelmsford leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy formality and delays many a Chelmsford conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 200000 flat in Chelmsford next Friday . The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Chelmsford?

Chelmsford conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually requires the buyer’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries the majority will be content to assist. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

Chelmsford Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask before buying

Please note if it is fewer than 80 years it will affect the salability of the apartment. Check with your mortgage company that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. A short lease means that you will almost definitely need a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. For most Chelmsfordlease extensions you would need to own the property for 24 months in order to be legally able to extend the lease. For many Chelmsford leaseholds the cost for major works tend not to be included within maintenance charges, although some managing agents in Chelmsford ask leasehold owners to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for larger works. The majority of Chelmsford leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the building set on behalf of the management company. If you acquire the property you will have to meet this amount, normally periodically during the year. This could vary from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built buildings. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent to be met yearly, this is usually not a significant sum, say approximately £50-£100 but you need to check as occasionally it can be prohibitively expensive.