There are only 68 years unexpired on my lease in Rochdale. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

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 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 magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Rochdale.

Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Rochdale. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Rochdale should include some of the following:

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• The physical extent of the premises. This will be the apartment itself but may include a loft or cellar if appropriate.
• Defining your legal entitlements in relation to the communal areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease include a right of way over an accessway or staircase?
• Whether the lease restricts you from renting out the flat, or having a home office for business
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Rochdale where we see a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Rochdale conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to 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 simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is 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.

Completion in due on the sale of our £ 350000 maisonette in Rochdale in 8 days. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Rochdale?

Rochdale conveyancing on leasehold flats normally involves the buyer’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries most will be content to do so. They are entitled invoice a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.

What makes a Rochdale lease defective?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Rochdale. All leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Santander, The Mortgage Works, and Nottingham Building Society all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

Rochdale Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Is there a share of the freehold? The prefered form of lease structure is a share of the freehold. In this scenario the tenants enjoy being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is often employed if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Is anyone aware of any major works in the near future that could increase the service charges?