I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Chipping Sodbury. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

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 lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Chipping Sodbury.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed flat in Chipping Sodbury.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you pay 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Chipping Sodbury where we have experienced a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Chipping Sodbury conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with 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 provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Chipping Sodbury from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Chipping Sodbury can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Chipping Sodbury levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Chipping Sodbury.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy process and frustrates many a Chipping Sodbury home move. If a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is under 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. 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 £ 150000 apartment in Chipping Sodbury next week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Chipping Sodbury?

Chipping Sodbury conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes more often than not involves the purchaser’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions the majority will be willing to do so. 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 over three hundred pounds, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

Chipping Sodbury Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

How much is the ground rent and service charge?