I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Nafferton. Before diving in I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Nafferton - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I have recently realised that I have 72 years left on my flat in Nafferton. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. 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 extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. In some cases a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Nafferton.

I am looking at a couple of apartments in Nafferton both have approximately fifty years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Nafferton. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Nafferton from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Nafferton can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Nafferton levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Nafferton.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Nafferton leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. If you dont have the approvals in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.
• Some Nafferton leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £ 450000 garden flat in Nafferton in seven days. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Nafferton?

Nafferton conveyancing on leasehold apartments typically involves administration charges invoiced by managing agents :

• Addressing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Nafferton
• 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 Nafferton leasehold premises is £350. For Nafferton 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 answers.

I own a 1st floor flat in Nafferton, conveyancing formalities finalised 2001. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Nafferton with a long lease are worth £225,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 levied per year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2099

With just 73 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £7,600 and £8,800 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.