I only have Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Radcliffe. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Radcliffe.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement apartment in Radcliffe.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am looking at a couple of flats in Radcliffe both have approximately 50 years left on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Radcliffe. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I work for a reputable estate agency in Radcliffe where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Radcliffe conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 buyer.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £225000 garden flat in Radcliffe next Monday . The freeholder has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Radcliffe?

Radcliffe conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not requires the purchaser’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries the majority will be content to assist. They are entitled invoice a reasonable charge 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 over three hundred pounds, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has little choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

I am the registered owner of a basement flat in Radcliffe, conveyancing was carried out 4 years ago. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Radcliffe with an extended lease are worth £221,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 per annum. The lease ends on 21st October 2087

With 67 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £14,300 and £16,400 plus legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for extending 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 other issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Radcliffe