There are only Fifty years unexpired on my lease in Ditchling. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

If you qualify, 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Ditchling.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my garden apartment in Ditchling.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you discharge the invoice 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 managing agents 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I own a leasehold house in Ditchling. Conveyancing and Bank of Ireland mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Ditchling who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First contact HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Ditchling conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Ditchling. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

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).

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £225000 apartment in Ditchling next week. The freeholder has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Ditchling?

Ditchling conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually involves administration charges invoiced by management companies :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Ditchling
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Ditchling leasehold property is £350. For Ditchling 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 obliged to supply answers.

Ditchling Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

What prohibitions are there in the Ditchling Lease? The majority of Ditchling leasehold apartments will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the block invoiced on behalf of the freeholder. If you acquire the flat you will have to pay this contribution, usually periodically accross the year. This can vary from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. There will also be a ground rent to be met yearly, this is usually not a large figure, say about £25-£75 but you need to enquire it because on occasion it could be surprisingly expensive. Make sure you discover if the the lease contains any onerous restrictions in the lease. By way of example some leases prohibit pets being permitted in in a block in Ditchling. If you like the propertyin Ditchling however your cat can’t make the move with you then you will be presented with a hard compromise.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Ditchling