Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Small Heath. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Small Heath - 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.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years remaining on my lease in Small Heath. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent should be useful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Small Heath.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Small Heath conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Small Heath conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Small Heath conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• What are the costs for lease extension conveyancing?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £ 175000 apartment in Small Heath next week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Small Heath?

Small Heath conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually necessitates the purchaser’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address these enquiries the majority will be willing to do so. They are at liberty levy a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it exceeds £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to complete the sale of your home.

What are the common problems that you see in leases for Small Heath properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Small Heath is not unique. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Barclays , Coventry Building Society, and Clydesdale all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

I invested in buying a ground floor flat in Small Heath, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2010. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent flats in Small Heath with over 90 years remaining are worth £210,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 invoiced every year. The lease expires on 21st October 2102

With only 76 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £7,600 and £8,800 plus professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward placing reliance on this information before getting professional advice.