I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years remaining on my flat in Wallasey. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the landlord. For most situations a specialist should be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Wallasey.

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor flat in Wallasey.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is pay the invoice 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am looking at a couple of apartments in Wallasey both have approximately fifty years remaining on the lease term. Should I regard a short lease as a deal breaker?

A lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I work for a long established estate agency in Wallasey where we have experienced a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received contradictory information from local Wallasey conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can initiate the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

Provided that 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. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with 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.

Completion in due on our sale of a £350000 apartment in Wallasey next week. The managing agents has quoted £336 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Wallasey?

Wallasey conveyancing on leasehold apartments ordinarily results in fees being levied by management companies :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Wallasey
• 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 solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Wallasey leasehold property is £350. For Wallasey 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 answers.

I acquired a studio flat in Wallasey, conveyancing having been completed 2001. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Corresponding flats in Wallasey with over 90 years remaining are worth £198,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 yearly. The lease expires on 21st October 2073

With 50 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to range between £39,000 and £45,000 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Wallasey