I only have 68 years unexpired on my lease in Chester. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

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 enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Chester.

You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Planning to complete next month on a studio apartment in Chester. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Setting out your legal entitlements in relation to the communal areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease grant a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Chester please ask your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Chester

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

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Chester conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Chester 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?
• How many lease extensions has the firm conducted in Chester in the last year?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £ 150000 apartment in Chester on Friday in a week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Chester?

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

• Completing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Chester
• 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 conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Chester leasehold premises is £350. For Chester 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.

What makes a Chester lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Chester is not unique. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, The Mortgage Works, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have express requirements 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 provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.

I bought a split level flat in Chester, conveyancing formalities finalised 9 years ago. 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? Comparable flats in Chester with a long lease are worth £260,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease ends on 21st October 2088

With just 62 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £21,900 and £25,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.