I have recently realised that I have Fifty years remaining on my flat in Cranfield. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. 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 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 Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. In some cases a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Cranfield.

You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Due to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Cranfield. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Cranfield should include some of the following:

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
• The physical extent of the property. This will be the property itself but could also include a loft or basement if applicable.
• Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Cranfield please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Cranfield

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Cranfield which have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the leases. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold apartment in Cranfield is a wasting asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to zero years unexpired, the more it reduces the salability of the premises. The majority of buyers and banks, leases with less than 75 years become less and less attractive. 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 property 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 premises 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 Cranfield 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 They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that any new 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.

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

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Cranfield conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with several firms including non Cranfield conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
• How many lease extensions has the firm carried out in Cranfield in the last year?

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £ 125000 maisonette in Cranfield next Tuesday . The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Cranfield?

Cranfield conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically involves fees being invoiced by freeholders :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Cranfield
• 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 lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Cranfield leasehold property is £350. For Cranfield 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 required to provide the information.

Cranfield Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying

Best to be warned whether a new roof is being put on or some other significant cost is anticipated to be shared amongst the tenants and may well dramatically impact the level of the maintenance charges or require a one time payment. Plenty Cranfield leasehold properties will have a service charge for the upkeep of the block levied by the freeholder. Should you purchase the property you will have to pay this charge, usually quarterly throughout the year. This may be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal areas. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent to be met yearly, ordinarily this is not a large sum, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to enquire it because on occasion it can be prohibitively expensive.