I only have Fifty years remaining on my lease in Chesterfield. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

If 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 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. On the whole a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Chesterfield.

I have just appointed agents to market my basement apartment in Chesterfield.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I work for a reputable estate agency in Chesterfield where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Chesterfield conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer 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 prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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 purchaser.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Chesterfield 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 Chesterfield conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Chesterfield conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How many lease extensions has the firm conducted in Chesterfield in the last twenty four months?

Can they put you in touch with client in Chesterfield who can give a testimonial?

Completion in due on our sale of a £400000 apartment in Chesterfield next Monday . The landlords agents has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Chesterfield?

Chesterfield conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally necessitates administration charges levied by landlords agents :

• Answering pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Chesterfield
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Chesterfield leasehold property is £350. For Chesterfield 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 answers.

Chesterfield Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

This question is useful as a) areas may result in problems for the block as the common areas may start to deteriorate where services are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the running of the building you will need to have full disclosure Does this lease have more than 90 years remaining? For most Chesterfield leaseholds the outlay for major works are not built into the service charges, although some managing agents in Chesterfield require leasehold owners to contribute towards a reserve fund created for the specific purpose of building a fund for major works.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Chesterfield