I have recently realised that I have Fifty years remaining on my lease in Stalybridge. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

If 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. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. For most situations a specialist would be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Stalybridge.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Stalybridge. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Stalybridge should include some of the following:

• The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Stalybridge. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Stalybridge conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Stalybridge conveyancing practice) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you talk with two or three firms including non Stalybridge conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £250000 apartment in Stalybridge in six days. The freeholder has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Stalybridge?

Stalybridge conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not involves the purchaser’s lawyer submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to answer these enquiries most will be content to assist. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I invested in buying a split level flat in Stalybridge, conveyancing having been completed 7 years ago. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Stalybridge with a long lease are worth £267,000. The ground rent is £65 yearly. The lease terminates on 21st October 2091

You have 69 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £11,400 and £13,200 plus legals.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other 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 based on this information without first getting professional advice.

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Lease Extensions in Stalybridge