Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 68 years unexpired on my flat in Newton Ferrers. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

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 enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Newton Ferrers.

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Newton Ferrers where we have experienced a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Newton Ferrers conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Newton Ferrers from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Newton Ferrers can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Newton Ferrers levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Newton Ferrers.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Newton Ferrers state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you fail to have the consents in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand.

If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming process and frustrates many a Newton Ferrers home move. If a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £200000 apartment in Newton Ferrers next Tuesday . The landlords agents has quoted £396 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Newton Ferrers?

Newton Ferrers conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically results in fees being invoiced by freeholders :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Newton Ferrers
• 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 Newton Ferrers leasehold property is £350. For Newton Ferrers 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 provide the information.

What makes a Newton Ferrers lease unacceptable for security purposes?

Leasehold conveyancing in Newton Ferrers is not unique. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are not included. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Halifax, Skipton Building Society, and Clydesdale all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Newton Ferrers - A selection of Queries before buying

Is the freehold reversion owned collectively by the tenants? The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold title is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the tenants enjoy being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is often retained if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent is directed by the tenants. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their service charge payments?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Newton Ferrers