Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Cirencester. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Cirencester - 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 am attracted to a two maisonettes in Cirencester which have approximately forty five years remaining on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Cirencester is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The closer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it adversely affects the marketability of the premises. The majority of buyers and lenders, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the premises for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Cirencester conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that the agreed terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Cirencester where we have experienced a few leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Cirencester conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 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.

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 Cirencester with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Cirencester can be reduced if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Cirencester levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Cirencester.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £125000 garden flat in Cirencester in 10 days. The managing agents has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Cirencester?

Cirencester conveyancing on leasehold apartments normally involves the purchaser’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be content to do so. They are at liberty levy a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is above £800. The administration charge invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is not strictly payable. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

I am the registered owner of a split level flat in Cirencester, conveyancing was carried out 6 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar properties in Cirencester with a long lease are worth £219,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2079

With only 55 years left to run the likely cost is going to be between £27,600 and £31,800 plus 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 are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Cirencester