Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years left on my lease in Chorley. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that 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. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Chorley.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden flat in Chorley.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a half-yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

It best that you discharge the service charge 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 management companies 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 am attracted to a couple of flats in Chorley both have in the region of fifty years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

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

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Chorley conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with two or three firms including non Chorley conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• What volume of lease extensions has the firm carried out in Chorley in the last 12 months?

All being well we will complete our sale of a £ 275000 maisonette in Chorley on Wednesday in a week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Chorley?

Chorley conveyancing on leasehold flats usually necessitates the purchaser’s conveyancer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries most will be willing to assist. They may charge a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Chorley - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

The prefered form of lease structure is if the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the leaseholders have control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually retained where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Does the lease include onerous restrictions? Can you inform me if there are any major works in the near future that could increase the maintenance charges?