I have recently realised that I have 68 years left on my flat in Houghton Le Spring. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Houghton Le Spring.

I own a leasehold flat in Houghton Le Spring. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Houghton Le Spring who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Houghton Le Spring conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Houghton Le Spring. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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 be sure 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 reputable estate agent office in Houghton Le Spring where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Houghton Le Spring conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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 buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £500000 flat in Houghton Le Spring next Tuesday . The freeholder has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Houghton Le Spring?

Houghton Le Spring conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes more often than not necessitates the buyer’s solicitor sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be willing to assist. They may invoice a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

Houghton Le Spring Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before Purchasing

It is important to be aware if changing the roof or some other major work is pending to be shared between the leaseholders and may well dramatically increase the the maintenance charges or require a one time payment. How is the lease structured? The best form of lease structure is where the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the tenants benefit from control and although a managing agent is usually retained if it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders.

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Lease Extensions in Houghton Le Spring