I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Rusholme. Before diving in I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Rusholme - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I would like to let out my leasehold flat in Rusholme. Conveyancing solicitor who did the purchase is retired - so can't ask her. Is permission from the freeholder required?

Even though your last Rusholme conveyancing solicitor is not around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the premises. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you need to obtain permission from your landlord or some other party prior to subletting. This means that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior permission. The consent should not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease prohibits you from subletting the property you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I have recently realised that I have Fifty years left on my flat in Rusholme. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that 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. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document which can be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Rusholme.

I am employed by a reputable estate agent office in Rusholme where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Rusholme conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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 buyer 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 needs to be completed before, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

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.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £300000 apartment in Rusholme on Wednesday in a week. The managing agents has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Rusholme?

For most leasehold sales in Rusholme conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

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

Leasehold Conveyancing in Rusholme - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

Who manages the block? It is important to be aware whether window replacement or some other major work is coming up to be shared by the tenants and may well dramatically increase the the service fees or result in a one off payment. Where a Rusholme lease has less than eighty years it will impact the salability of the flat. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are content with residual term of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. Remember, in most cases you would be required to have owned the property for 24 months before you are entitled to carry out a lease extension.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Rusholme