Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years remaining on my flat in Newton Abbot. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. 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 granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. In some cases a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Newton Abbot.

Expecting to complete next month on a leasehold property in Newton Abbot. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of the 80 year mark
• Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
• You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

I own a leasehold flat in Newton Abbot. Conveyancing and Barclays mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Newton Abbot who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Newton Abbot conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am looking at a couple of flats in Newton Abbot both have approximately forty five years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Newton Abbot. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this arena

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £ 450000 garden flat in Newton Abbot next Friday . The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Newton Abbot?

Newton Abbot conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually necessitates the buyer’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be willing to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Newton Abbot Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Please tell me if there are any major works in the near future that will add a premium to the maintenance charges?