Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years unexpired on my flat in Cinderford. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Cinderford.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Cinderford. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Cinderford who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Cinderford conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Cinderford. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £300000 garden flat in Cinderford next Wednesday . The freeholder has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Cinderford?

Cinderford conveyancing on leasehold flats usually requires the buyer’s lawyer submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to these enquiries most will be willing to do so. They are at liberty charge a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Cinderford what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Cinderford. All leases are individual and drafting errors 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 elements 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. Santander, Leeds Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have express conveyancing instructions 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 grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

I own a ground floor flat in Cinderford, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent properties in Cinderford with an extended lease are worth £188,000. The ground rent is £50 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 2077

You have 52 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £36,100 and £41,800 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Cinderford