I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years left on my flat in Heckmondwike. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

If you qualify, 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 extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Heckmondwike.

Due to complete next month on a studio apartment in Heckmondwike. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Setting out your rights in respect of common areas in the block.For instance, does the lease contain a right of way over an accessway or staircase?

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future

Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises 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

Responsibility for repairing the window frames

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Heckmondwike please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Heckmondwike

I have just appointed agents to market my garden apartment in Heckmondwike.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge 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.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Heckmondwike where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Heckmondwike conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as 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 buyer.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £125000 apartment in Heckmondwike in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £396 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Heckmondwike?

Heckmondwike conveyancing on leasehold apartments ordinarily involves administration charges levied by managing agents :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Heckmondwike
• 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 Heckmondwike leasehold property is £350. For Heckmondwike 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 required to supply answers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Heckmondwike - Sample of Queries Prior to Purchasing

Is the freehold reversion owned jointly by the tenants? What is the the remaining lease term? Most Heckmondwike leasehold flats will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the block levied on behalf of the management company. Where you purchase the property you will have to meet this charge, normally quarterly accross the year. This could vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal areas. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay annual, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant sum, say about £50-£100 but you need to enquire it because sometimes it could be many hundreds of pounds.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Heckmondwike