I have recently realised that I have Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Mirfield. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

If 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. In some cases a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Mirfield.

You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Mirfield. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
• 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
• 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.
• 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
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Mirfield please enquire of your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Mirfield

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Mirfield both have in the region of 50 years remaining on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Mirfield with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Mirfield can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers representatives.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Mirfield charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Mirfield.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Mirfield leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord approving such changes. If you fail to have the approvals in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor in the first instance.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over rather than unresolved.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £ 125000 flat in Mirfield next week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Mirfield?

Mirfield conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates administration charges invoiced by freeholders :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Mirfield
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Mirfield leasehold premises is £350. For Mirfield 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 obliged to provide the information.

I invested in buying a 1st floor flat in Mirfield, conveyancing formalities finalised 8 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding flats in Mirfield with a long lease are worth £184,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease expires on 21st October 2089

With just 63 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £20,000 and £23,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.