I only have 62 years left on my lease in Chipping Sodbury. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations 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 property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Chipping Sodbury.

Planning to complete next month on a studio apartment in Chipping Sodbury. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

Setting out your rights in relation to the communal areas in the block.For example, does the lease permit a right of way over an accessway or hallways?

Are pets allowed in the flat?

Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the property, or working from home

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

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.

What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Chipping Sodbury please ask your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Chipping Sodbury

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Chipping Sodbury where we have witnessed a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Chipping Sodbury conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can commence 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means 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 needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 buyer.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Chipping Sodbury from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Chipping Sodbury can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Chipping Sodbury state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you fail to have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.

A minority of Chipping Sodbury leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the yearly 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.

If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is unsettled. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of 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 over as opposed to ongoing.

If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate is often a time consuming formality and delays many a Chipping Sodbury home move. Where a reissued share is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £175000 maisonette in Chipping Sodbury next week. The landlords agents has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Chipping Sodbury?

For most leasehold sales in Chipping Sodbury conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Chipping Sodbury
• 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 Chipping Sodbury leasehold property is £350. For Chipping Sodbury 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 provide the information.

Chipping Sodbury Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

On the whole the cost for major works tend not to be included within maintenance charges, although a few managing agents in Chipping Sodbury obliged tenants to contribute towards a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. Who are the managing agents? It would be sensible to enquire if the the lease contains any unreasonable restrictions in the lease. For example plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Chipping Sodbury. If you like the apartmentin Chipping Sodbury however your cat is not allowed to make the move with you then you have a very difficult decision.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Chipping Sodbury