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

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent would be useful to try and locate and to produce 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 conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Littleborough.

Looking forward to complete next month on a leasehold property in Littleborough. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
• Are pets allowed in the flat?
• You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Littleborough. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct 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 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Littleborough who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Littleborough conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Littleborough. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before 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. Strange as it may seem, 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 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).

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Littleborough from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Littleborough can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Littleborough state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. If you dont have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance.
• Some Littleborough leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (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 purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Littleborough home move. Where a new share is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Littleborough - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

How much is the annual maintenance fee and ground rent? The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the tenants benefit from control and even though a managing agent is frequently retained if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.