I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Saltdean. Before diving in I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and most are in Saltdean - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

There are only 68 years unexpired on my lease in Saltdean. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Saltdean.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Saltdean from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Saltdean can be avoided if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers lawyers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Saltdean levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Saltdean.

Some Saltdean leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.

If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy formality and delays many a Saltdean home move. Where a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

We expect to complete our sale of a £175000 garden flat in Saltdean next Friday . The freeholder has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Saltdean?

Saltdean conveyancing on leasehold flats typically results in administration charges levied by management companies :

• Answering pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Saltdean
• 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 conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Saltdean leasehold property is £350. For Saltdean 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 required to provide the information.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Saltdean what are the most frequent lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Saltdean. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Accord Mortgages Ltd, Barnsley Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.

I am the registered owner of a leasehold flat in Saltdean, conveyancing having been completed 1995. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Similar properties in Saltdean with a long lease are worth £205,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2078

With just 54 years unexpired the likely cost is going to range between £28,500 and £33,000 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 are not able to supply the actual costs without more detailed investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Saltdean