I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in Walton on the Naze. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that 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 granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Walton on the Naze.

Planning to complete next month on a basement flat in Walton on the Naze. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they are sending me a report tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

Whether the lease restricts you from renting out the flat, or working from home

You should 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

Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?

The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.

Responsibility for repairing the window frames For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Walton on the Naze please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Walton on the Naze

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor flat in Walton on the Naze.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a quarterly service charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you clear 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I work for a long established estate agent office in Walton on the Naze where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Walton on the Naze conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can instigate 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

We expect to complete our sale of a £350000 maisonette in Walton on the Naze in nine days. The freeholder has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Walton on the Naze?

Walton on the Naze conveyancing on leasehold apartments ordinarily necessitates fees being invoiced by landlords agents :

• Addressing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Walton on the Naze
• 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 Walton on the Naze leasehold premises is £350. For Walton on the Naze 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 the information.

I invested in buying a 1st floor flat in Walton on the Naze, conveyancing was carried out in 1997. How much will my lease extension cost? Similar flats in Walton on the Naze with over 90 years remaining are worth £213,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease ends on 21st October 2078

With just 55 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £27,600 and £31,800 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs without more detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Walton on the Naze