Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Ladywood. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and most are in Ladywood - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years remaining on my flat in Ladywood. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Ladywood.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Ladywood with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Ladywood can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Ladywood leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. Where you fail to have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your lawyer before hand.
• A minority of Ladywood leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 buyers or their solicitors.
• If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a Ladywood home move. If a reissued share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £ 325000 flat in Ladywood on Wednesday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Ladywood?

Ladywood conveyancing on leasehold flats often requires the buyer’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions most will be content to assist. They may charge a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. 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.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Ladywood what are the most common lease problems?

Leasehold conveyancing in Ladywood is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , Coventry Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I acquired a 1st floor flat in Ladywood, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Ladywood with a long lease are worth £268,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 levied per year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2101

With just 75 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.