Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years left on my lease in Fairwater. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Fairwater.

Planning to complete next month on a leasehold property in Fairwater. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
• The total extent of the premises. This will be the flat itself but might include a roof space or cellar if applicable.
• Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
• Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the property, or having a home office for business
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
• What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

Back In 2009, I bought a leasehold house in Fairwater. Conveyancing and Platform Home Loans Ltd mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Fairwater who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Fairwater conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £ 500000 flat in Fairwater next week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Fairwater?

Fairwater conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes often involves the buyer’s conveyancer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to such questions most will be willing to do so. They are at liberty levy a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is above £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

What makes a Fairwater lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Fairwater. All leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, The Mortgage Works, and Bank of Ireland all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I purchased a leasehold flat in Fairwater, conveyancing having been completed 2010. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Comparable properties in Fairwater with over 90 years remaining are worth £243,000. The ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease ceases on 21st October 2104

With 78 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.