There are only Seventy years left on my lease in Great Sankey. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. For most situations a specialist should be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document which can be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Great Sankey.

Due to complete next month on a basement flat in Great Sankey. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they report fully tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Great Sankey should include some of the following:

• Does the lease prevent you from letting out the flat, or working from home
• You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
• Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
• I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
• The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I’m about to sell my garden flat in Great Sankey.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is pay 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 until 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £ 150000 apartment in Great Sankey next Friday . The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Great Sankey?

Great Sankey conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually involves the purchaser’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions the majority will be content to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is above £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Are there common problems that you witness in leases for Great Sankey properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Great Sankey. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You may have 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. National Westminster Bank, Bank of Scotland, and Bank of Ireland all have express 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 buyer to pull out.

I purchased a 2 bed flat in Great Sankey, conveyancing having been completed 9 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Great Sankey with a long lease are worth £235,000. The ground rent is £45 charged once a year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2076

With just 50 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £41,800 and £48,400 plus legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.