I only have 72 years left on my flat in Droylsden. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Droylsden.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agency in Droylsden where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Droylsden conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-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 to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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.

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Droylsden conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Droylsden conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Droylsden conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Droylsden who can give a testimonial?

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 275000 garden flat in Droylsden in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Droylsden?

For most leasehold sales in Droylsden conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Droylsden
• 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 Droylsden leasehold premises is £350. For Droylsden 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 provide answers.

What makes a Droylsden lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Droylsden is not unique. Most leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• 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

You may encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. HSBC Bank, The Mortgage Works, and Nottingham Building Society all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

Droylsden Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Who is in charge of the building? Best to be warned if window replacement or some other major work is pending to be shared amongst the leaseholders and will dramatically increase the the maintenance charges or necessitate a specific payment.