There are only 68 years left on my flat in Sandbach. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

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 enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Sandbach.

I have just started marketing my ground floor apartment in Sandbach.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you 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 management companies 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 employed by a long established estate agent office in Sandbach where we see a few leasehold sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Sandbach conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process 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. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, 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 buyer.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Sandbach from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Sandbach can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Sandbach levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for 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 common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Sandbach.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Sandbach state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you fail to have the consents to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a Sandbach conveyancing deal. If a duplicate share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £ 400000 flat in Sandbach next Tuesday . The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Sandbach?

Sandbach conveyancing on leasehold flats typically involves administration charges invoiced by freeholders :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Sandbach
• 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 Sandbach leasehold property is £350. For Sandbach 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.

I purchased a leasehold flat in Sandbach, conveyancing formalities finalised 9 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Sandbach with an extended lease are worth £245,000. The ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease terminates on 21st October 2101

With just 75 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £11,400 and £13,200 plus legals.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.