I only have 62 years left on my flat in Much Wenlock. I now wish to extend my lease 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 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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Much Wenlock.

Due to complete next month on a garden flat in Much Wenlock. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Defining your rights in respect of the communal areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease grant a right of way over a path or staircase?

Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?

Does the lease prevent you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business

You need to be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

Responsibility for repairing the window frames

What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Much Wenlock please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Much Wenlock

I have just appointed agents to market my garden apartment in Much Wenlock.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should 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 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Much Wenlock conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Much Wenlock conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Much Wenlock conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?

What volume of lease extensions has the firm completed in Much Wenlock in the last year?

Completion in due on the disposal of our £375000 garden flat in Much Wenlock on Tuesday in a week. The management company has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Much Wenlock?

Much Wenlock conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually involves administration charges raised by landlords agents :

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Much Wenlock
• 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 Much Wenlock leasehold premises is £350. For Much Wenlock 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 supply the information.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Much Wenlock, conveyancing having been completed half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Much Wenlock with a long lease are worth £206,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2080

With 54 years unexpired the likely cost is going to span between £26,600 and £30,800 plus costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Much Wenlock