I have recently realised that I have 62 years unexpired on my flat in Grasmere. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder 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 enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Grasmere.

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in Grasmere. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

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 may incorporate a loft or basement if applicable.

Does the lease prevent you from letting out the flat, or having a home office for business

You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change

Repair and maintenance of the flat For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Grasmere please enquire of your conveyancer in advance of your conveyancing in Grasmere

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Grasmere with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Grasmere can be reduced if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• Some Grasmere leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.

If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over rather than ongoing.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy process and delays many a Grasmere home move. Where a duplicate share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £375000 garden flat in Grasmere next Monday . The freeholder has quoted £348 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Grasmere?

Grasmere conveyancing on leasehold apartments nine out of ten times results in administration charges invoiced by landlords agents :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Grasmere
• 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 solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Grasmere leasehold property is £350. For Grasmere 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 the information.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Grasmere what are the most common lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Grasmere. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements 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

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Bank of Scotland, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Grasmere - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Make sure you enquire if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For instance plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in in a block in Grasmere. If you love the apartmentin Grasmere but your cat can’t live with you then you have a very difficult decision. Does the lease contain onerous restrictions? Please note if it is fewer than 80 years it will impact the value of the flat. It is worth checking with your lender that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. For most Grasmerelease extensions you would be be obliged to have owned the residence for a couple of years before you are eligible to extend the lease.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Grasmere