I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Shaftesbury. Before diving in I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Shaftesbury - 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 only have Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Shaftesbury. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If 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 extended by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Shaftesbury.

I have just started marketing my ground floor flat in Shaftesbury.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Shaftesbury where we see a number of flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Shaftesbury conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. 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 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 buyer.

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 450000 apartment in Shaftesbury in just under a week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Shaftesbury?

Shaftesbury conveyancing on leasehold flats often involves the buyer’s conveyancer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries most will be content to assist. They may charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is above £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to sell the property.

Shaftesbury Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries Prior to Purchasing

On the whole the cost for major works tend not to be built into the maintenance charges, although some managing agents in Shaftesbury obliged leaseholders to pay into a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major works. Please tell me if there are any major works in the planning that could increase the maintenance costs?