There are only Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in Newhaven. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder 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 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 or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and to produce a report to 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 in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Newhaven.

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

Due to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Newhaven. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they report fully next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
• Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
• You need to be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
• I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required
• 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.
• 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 Newhaven please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Newhaven

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Newhaven from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Newhaven can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Newhaven levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Newhaven.
• If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Arranging a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Newhaven home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 225000 garden flat in Newhaven next Tuesday . The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Newhaven?

Newhaven conveyancing on leasehold apartments ordinarily involves administration charges levied by freeholders :

• Addressing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Newhaven
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Newhaven leasehold premises is £350. For Newhaven 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 supply the information.

Are there common deficiencies that you encounter in leases for Newhaven properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Newhaven is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are missing. 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
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

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. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have very detailed 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 defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

I invested in buying a ground floor flat in Newhaven, conveyancing formalities finalised 2000. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar flats in Newhaven with an extended lease are worth £201,000. The ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2093

With just 67 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as professional fees.

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 detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should 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.