Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Chilwell. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Chilwell - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I only have Fifty years left on my lease in Chilwell. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Chilwell.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Chilwell from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Chilwell can be reduced where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Chilwell charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Chilwell.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Chilwell state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. If you fail to have the paperwork to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.

Some Chilwell leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 solicitors.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this via your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £325000 garden flat in Chilwell on Friday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Chilwell?

Chilwell conveyancing on leasehold flats usually results in administration charges invoiced by freeholders :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Chilwell
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Chilwell leasehold premises is £350. For Chilwell 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.

What makes a Chilwell lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Chilwell. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, The Mortgage Works, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed 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, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

I purchased a leasehold flat in Chilwell, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding properties in Chilwell with over 90 years remaining are worth £175,000. The ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2104

With just 79 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Chilwell