Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years left on my flat in Widnes. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to track down the lessor. On the whole a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. 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 overseeing Widnes.

I am hoping to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Widnes. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• You should receive a copy of the lease

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Widnes. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part 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).

I work for a busy estate agent office in Widnes where we have experienced a few flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Widnes conveyancing solicitors. Please can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can commence 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 start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 purchaser.

Completion in due on the sale of our £225000 apartment in Widnes next week. The freeholder has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Widnes?

Widnes conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not involves the buyer’s conveyancer submitting questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be content to do so. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have little choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

Widnes Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

The majority of Widnes leasehold apartments will incur a service bill for the upkeep of the building invoiced on behalf of the management company. If you acquire the apartment you will have to pay this amount, normally periodically accross the year. This could be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal grounds. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay yearly, ordinarily this is not a significant figure, say around £25-£75 but you should to enquire it because on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds. It is important to be aware if redecorating or some other significant cost is pending to be shared by the leaseholders and could well dramatically increase the the maintenance charges or require a specific payment. Be sure to enquire if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. By way of example it is fairly common in Widnes leases that pets are not allowed in in a block in Widnes. If you love the apartmentin Widnes however your dog can’t make the move with you then you will be presented with a difficult choice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Widnes