I have recently realised that I have Fifty years remaining on my lease in Walkington. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

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 mean that your lease can be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. On the whole a specialist may be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Walkington.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Walkington. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware 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, landlord

The total extent of the premises. This will be the property itself but might include a roof space or cellar if appropriate.

Setting out your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease permit a right of way over a path or staircase?

You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future

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 contained in your report on your leasehold property in Walkington please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Walkington

I am looking at a two apartments in Walkington both have approximately forty five years left on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Walkington. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease decreases and it becomes more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

I work for a busy estate agent office in Walkington where we see a few leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Walkington conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having 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 sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 the disposal of our £150000 flat in Walkington next week. The freeholder has quoted £360 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Walkington?

Walkington conveyancing on leasehold apartments nine out of ten times involves fees being levied by freeholders :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Walkington
• 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 Walkington leasehold property is £350. For Walkington 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 am the registered owner of a split level flat in Walkington, conveyancing formalities finalised 10 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding properties in Walkington with a long lease are worth £175,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 invoiced every year. The lease ends on 21st October 2084

With 62 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £20,000 and £23,000 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Walkington