Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 68 years unexpired on my lease in St Mawes. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. On the whole a specialist should be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering St Mawes.

I am hoping to complete next month on a leasehold property in St Mawes. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in St Mawes should include some of the following:

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder

The physical extent of the premises. This will be the apartment itself but might include a roof space or cellar if applicable.

Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?

I don't know whether the lease allows me to alter or improve anything in the flat - you should know whether it applies to all alterations or just structural alteration, and whether consent is required

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in St Mawes please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in St Mawes

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed flat in St Mawes.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a half-yearly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay 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 own a leasehold house in St Mawes. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in St Mawes who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a St Mawes conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £500000 garden flat in St Mawes next Tuesday . The freeholder has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in St Mawes?

For the majority of leasehold sales in St Mawes conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in St Mawes
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 St Mawes leasehold property is £350. For St Mawes 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 answers.

St Mawes Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

What is the name of the managing agents? The prefered form of lease structure is if the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the leaseholders benefit from control and even though a managing agent is usually retained where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent employed by the leaseholders. What prohibitions are contained in the St Mawes Lease?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in St Mawes