Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in Midhurst. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that 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 mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. On the whole a specialist should be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Midhurst.

Expecting to complete next month on a garden flat in Midhurst. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?

Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Repair and maintenance of the flat

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 options are open to you 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 a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Midhurst please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Midhurst

I have just started marketing my 2 bed apartment in Midhurst.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is 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 unless 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.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £475000 garden flat in Midhurst in just under a week. The management company has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Midhurst?

Midhurst conveyancing on leasehold flats nine out of ten times results in administration charges levied by freeholders :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Midhurst
• 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 Midhurst leasehold premises is £350. For Midhurst 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 the information.

What are the frequently found problems that you see in leases for Midhurst properties?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Midhurst. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain sections are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Coventry Building Society, and TSB 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 problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.

I bought a split level flat in Midhurst, conveyancing was carried out 3 years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Comparable flats in Midhurst with over 90 years remaining are worth £270,000. The ground rent is £55 charged once a year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2102

With just 77 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Midhurst