I have recently realised that I have 72 years left on my lease in Ripley. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Ripley.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor flat in Ripley.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is discharge the service charge 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Ripley. Conveyancing and Birmingham Midshires mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Ripley who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Ripley conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Ripley. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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).

Completion in due on the disposal of our £175000 flat in Ripley in nine days. The landlords agents has quoted £336 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Ripley?

Ripley conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes nine out of ten times involves administration charges levied by freeholders :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Ripley
• 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 lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Ripley leasehold property is £350. For Ripley 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 the information.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Ripley - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

For many Ripley leaseholds the cost for major works are not wrapped into the service charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Ripley require leaseholders to contribute towards a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. Make sure you enquire if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. For instance plenty of leases prohibit pets being allowed in in a block in Ripley. If you like the apartmentin Ripley but your cat can’t make the move with you then you will be faced hard decision. Best to be warned if fixing the lift or some other major work is due in the near future that will be shared amongst the leaseholders and could well materially increase the the maintenance fees or result in a specific payment.

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Lease Extensions in Ripley