There are only Seventy years unexpired on my flat in South Woodham Ferrers. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. 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 submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. On the whole a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering South Woodham Ferrers.

I am looking at a two flats in South Woodham Ferrers which have about 50 years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in South Woodham Ferrers. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in South Woodham Ferrers from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in South Woodham Ferrers can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• A minority of South Woodham Ferrers leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly 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 there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.

If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a South Woodham Ferrers home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage 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.

We expect to complete the sale of our £400000 maisonette in South Woodham Ferrers next Friday . The management company has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in South Woodham Ferrers?

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

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in South Woodham Ferrers
• 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 South Woodham Ferrers leasehold premises is £350. For South Woodham Ferrers 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 the information.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in South Woodham Ferrers what are the most common lease defects?

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

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You will have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Birmingham Midshires, Chelsea Building Society, and Bank of Ireland all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to withdraw.

I am the registered owner of a ground floor flat in South Woodham Ferrers, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent properties in South Woodham Ferrers with a long lease are worth £236,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2081

You have 55 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £32,300 and £37,400 as well as costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in South Woodham Ferrers