I have recently realised that I have 72 years remaining on my lease in High Peak. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

If you qualify, 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 extended by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering High Peak.

I am looking at a couple of maisonettes in High Peak which have approximately forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in High Peak is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. For most buyers and banks, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of property with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with High Peak conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

What are your top tips when it comes to appointing a High Peak conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a High Peak conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non High Peak conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?

Can they put you in touch with client in High Peak who can give a testimonial?

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in High Peak with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in High Peak can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in High Peak charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in High Peak.

If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in High Peak state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. Where you dont have the approvals to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.

If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £150000 apartment in High Peak next week. The landlords agents has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in High Peak?

High Peak conveyancing on leasehold flats nine out of ten times results in fees being levied by management companies :

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in High Peak
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 High Peak leasehold property is £350. For High Peak 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 answers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in High Peak - A selection of Queries before buying

Does this lease have in excess of 82 years left? You will want to find out as much as you can concerning the company managing the block as they will either make life much simpler or problematic. Being a leasehold owner you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day issues like the cleanliness of the common parts. Enquire of other people if they are happy with them. Finally, find out the dates that the service fees are due to the relevant party and specifically what you get for your money. The prefered form of lease structure is if the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the leaseholders benefit from control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually retained where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in High Peak