Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years left on my flat in Stow on the Wold. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent would be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Stow on the Wold.

You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Due to exchange soon on a basement flat in Stow on the Wold. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The total extent of the premises. This will be the property itself but could also include a roof space or cellar if appropriate.
• Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?
• Are pets allowed in the flat?
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Stow on the Wold please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Stow on the Wold

I’m about to sell my garden apartment in Stow on the Wold.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the service charge 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 work for a busy estate agency in Stow on the Wold where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Stow on the Wold conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

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 buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete our sale of a £ 375000 maisonette in Stow on the Wold next Thursday . The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Stow on the Wold?

For most leasehold sales in Stow on the Wold 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-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Stow on the Wold
• 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 conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Stow on the Wold leasehold premises is £350. For Stow on the Wold 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 required to supply the information.

Stow on the Wold Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

Be sure to enquire if there is anything that is prohibited in the lease. By way of example plenty of leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Stow on the Wold. If you love the propertyin Stow on the Wold however your cat can’t live with you then you have a very hard choice.