There are only 68 years left on my flat in Hurst. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. On the whole a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Hurst.

Due to complete next month on a garden flat in Hurst. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

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

I own a leasehold flat in Hurst. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Hurst who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Hurst conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Hurst. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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).

All being well we will complete the sale of our £175000 apartment in Hurst in 5 days. The freeholder has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Hurst?

Hurst conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually involves the purchaser’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address such questions the majority will be content to assist. They may invoice a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it exceeds £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to sell the property.

Hurst Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

You should be aware that where the lease has no more than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the apartment. Check with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most Hurstlease extensions you would need to own the premises for 24 months before you are entitled to extend the lease. Many Hurst leasehold flats will have a service bill for the upkeep of the block set on behalf of the landlord. Where you purchase the flat you will have to meet this contribution, usually periodically throughout the year. This could be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal grounds. There will also be a ground rent to be met annual, this is usually not a exorbitant sum, say about £25-£75 but you should to enquire it because occasionally it can be many hundreds of pounds. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability?

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Lease Extensions in Hurst