I have recently realised that I have 72 years unexpired on my flat in Torrington. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord 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 for permission 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 prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the lessor. In some cases a specialist would be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Torrington.

Due to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Torrington. Conveyancing lawyers assured me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The physical extent of the demise. This will be the apartment itself but could also include a roof space or basement if applicable.

Defining your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the block.For example, does the lease grant a right of way over a path or staircase?

You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

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

Repair and maintenance of the flat

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

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Torrington please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Torrington

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Torrington which have in the region of 50 years unexpired on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you seek professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Torrington from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Torrington can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Torrington leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you dont have the approvals to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.

A minority of Torrington leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.

If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Torrington conveyancing deal. If a new share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is under 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £500000 maisonette in Torrington next week. The managing agents has quoted £360 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Torrington?

Torrington conveyancing on leasehold flats nine out of ten times results in fees being invoiced by freeholders :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Torrington
• 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 lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Torrington leasehold property is £350. For Torrington 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.

I bought a ground floor flat in Torrington, conveyancing was carried out 10 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Comparable flats in Torrington with over 90 years remaining are worth £250,000. The ground rent is £45 invoiced annually. The lease runs out on 21st October 2083

With 61 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £20,900 and £24,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues 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 seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Torrington