Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Ferring. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. 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 submit an application 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. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Ferring.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Ferring. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to 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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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 busy estate agency in Ferring where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Ferring conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence 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 wait 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 at the same time as completion of the sale.

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 choosing a Ferring conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Ferring conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you make enquires with several firms including non Ferring conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How many lease extensions have they completed in Ferring in the last 12 months?

We expect to complete our sale of a £225000 maisonette in Ferring next week. The management company has quoted £324 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Ferring?

Ferring conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates the buyer’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be willing to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it exceeds £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Ferring - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

How much is the ground rent and service charge? Who takes charge for maintaining and repairing the building? It would be wise to discover as much as you can regarding the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you will be at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to day to day matters such as the tidiness of the common parts. Ask other tenants whether they are happy with them. On a final note, find out the dates that the maintenance fees are due to the managing agents and precisely what it includes.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Ferring