I only have Sixty One years left on my lease in Ivybridge. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Ivybridge.

Expecting to exchange soon on a ground floor flat in Ivybridge. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
• The total extent of the property. This will be the flat itself but could also incorporate a loft or cellar if applicable.
• Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Ivybridge where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Ivybridge conveyancing firms. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as 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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Ivybridge with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ivybridge can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Ivybridge charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. 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 obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Ivybridge.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Ivybridge leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such alterations. Should you dont have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.
• A minority of Ivybridge leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a lengthy formality and delays many a Ivybridge home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £ 125000 maisonette in Ivybridge next week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Ivybridge?

Ivybridge conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally requires the buyer’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries most will be content to assist. They are entitled invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

Ivybridge Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries Prior to buying

Many Ivybridge leasehold properties will have a service bill for the upkeep of the block set by the management company. Where you buy the flat you will have to meet this amount, usually periodically during the year. This can vary from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. In all likelihood there will be a rentcharge to be met annual, this is usually not a large figure, say about £50-£100 but you need to check it because occasionally it can be prohibitively expensive.