Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Newmarket. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order 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 demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. 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 proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Newmarket.

I am looking at a two apartments in Newmarket both have approximately fifty years left on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

There are plenty of short leases in Newmarket. The lease is a right to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Newmarket from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Newmarket can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Newmarket charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have 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 reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Newmarket.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Newmarket leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you fail to have the consents in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor first.

Some Newmarket leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.

If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy formality and delays many a Newmarket home move. If a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £250000 maisonette in Newmarket next week. The management company has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Newmarket?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Newmarket conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Newmarket
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Newmarket leasehold property is £350. For Newmarket 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 answers.

What makes a Newmarket lease unmortgageable?

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

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• 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

You will have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Yorkshire Building Society, The Royal Bank of Scotland, and Bank of Ireland all have very detailed requirements 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 provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I invested in buying a 1st floor flat in Newmarket, conveyancing formalities finalised 1999. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Similar properties in Newmarket with a long lease are worth £230,000. The ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease expires on 21st October 2088

With 63 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £18,100 and £20,800 plus costs.

The suggested premium range above 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 the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Newmarket