I have recently realised that I have 72 years remaining on my flat in Leyland. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

If you qualify, 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Leyland.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Leyland.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a half-yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold flat in Leyland. Conveyancing and Clydesdale mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Leyland who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Leyland conveyancing lawyer 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 rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Leyland from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Leyland can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Leyland leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you fail to have the approvals in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £350000 apartment in Leyland on Friday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Leyland?

Leyland conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally requires the buyer’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries most will be content to assist. They are at liberty levy a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has no choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

I own a studio flat in Leyland, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar flats in Leyland with a long lease are worth £259,000. The ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2077

With 52 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £31,400 and £36,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Leyland