There are only Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Potton. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order 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 demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. In some cases a specialist may be useful to try and locate and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Potton.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Potton. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I work for a long established estate agent office in Potton where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Potton conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the owner 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 buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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 Potton with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Potton can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Potton charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding 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 usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Potton.
• A minority of Potton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share certificate. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Potton home move. If a duplicate share certificate is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) 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 conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is under 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.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 300000 maisonette in Potton next week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Potton?

Potton conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not requires the buyer’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions most will be content to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.

Potton Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

Its a good idea to discover as much as you can concerning the company managing the building as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. Being a leasehold owner you are frequently at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to every day issues like the upkeep of the communal areas. Don't be afraid to ask other people what they think of their management. On a final note, find out the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the managing agents and precisely what it includes.