Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years remaining on my lease in Bellingham. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Bellingham.

Due to exchange soon on a studio apartment in Bellingham. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the block.E.G., does the lease contain a right of way over a path or hallways?

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

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.

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?

The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building

What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Bellingham please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Bellingham

I have just started marketing my basement apartment in Bellingham.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you clear the invoice 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

What are your top tips when it comes to appointing a Bellingham conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Bellingham conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you speak with two or three firms including non Bellingham conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?

If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

We expect to complete our sale of a £175000 garden flat in Bellingham in six days. The freeholder has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Bellingham?

Bellingham conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically involves administration charges invoiced by freeholders :

• Answering pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Bellingham
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Bellingham leasehold premises is £350. For Bellingham conveyancing transactions it is customary for the seller to pay for these costs. The landlord or their agents are under no legal obligation to answer such questions most will be willing to do so - albeit often at exorbitant prices where the fees bear little relation to the work involved. Unfortunately there is no law that requires fixed charges for administrative tasks. Neither is there any legal time frame by which they are required to provide answers.

Having spent months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Bellingham. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Bellingham conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Bellingham flat is 75 Woolstone Road in February 2012. the decision of the Tribunal was that the appropriate amount to be paid to purchase the freehold was the sum of £17,711 . This case affected 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 68.28 and 158.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bellingham