There are only 68 years remaining on my lease in Thrapston. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

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 extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence 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 vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Thrapston.

Due to complete next month on a garden flat in Thrapston. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they report fully on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

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

The physical extent of the demise. This will be the apartment itself but may include a loft or cellar if applicable.

Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

Does the lease prevent you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business

You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

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

The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Thrapston please ask your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Thrapston

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Thrapston. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Thrapston who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Thrapston conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Thrapston. 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).

All being well we will complete the sale of our £325000 maisonette in Thrapston in 8 days. The landlords agents has quoted £408 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Thrapston?

Thrapston conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically results in fees being levied by freeholders :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Thrapston
• 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 Thrapston leasehold property is £350. For Thrapston 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 provide answers.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Thrapston - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

What is the name of the managing agents? It is important to be aware if a new roof is being put on or some other significant cost is due shortly that will be shared amongst the tenants and may well dramatically impact the level of the maintenance costs or result in a one off invoice. Where a Thrapston lease has no more than eighty years it will affect the value of the apartment. It is worth checking with your lender that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this would cost. For most Thrapstonlease extensions you would be be obliged to have owned the property for 24 months before you are eligible to extend the lease.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Thrapston