I only have 62 years unexpired on my flat in Coleshill. 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 apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. On the whole a specialist may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Coleshill.

I am attracted to a two apartments in Coleshill both have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Coleshill. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Coleshill. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, 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 ensure 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).

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Coleshill where we see a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Coleshill conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that 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. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having 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 before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £475000 maisonette in Coleshill next Monday . The management company has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Coleshill?

Coleshill conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not necessitates the purchaser’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries the majority will be willing to assist. They are entitled charge a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is above £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

Coleshill Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? Most Coleshill leasehold apartments will have a service bill for the upkeep of the building invoiced by the freeholder. Where you buy the property you will have to meet this contribution, normally in instalments throughout the year. This can be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a large sum, say about £25-£75 but you need to enquire it because occasionally it could be prohibitively expensive. Who manages the building?

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Lease Extensions in Coleshill