I only have 68 years remaining on my flat in Rochdale. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord 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 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. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to find the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence 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 application to the County Court overseeing Rochdale.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed apartment in Rochdale.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is clear 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 managing agents 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 tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two apartments in Rochdale both have about forty five years unexpired on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Rochdale. The lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the saleability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Rochdale where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Rochdale conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as 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.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Rochdale from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Rochdale can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Rochdale leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you fail to have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer first.

I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Rochdale, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Rochdale with a long lease are worth £192,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 charged once a year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2090

With 65 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £15,200 and £17,600 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Rochdale