There are only Sixty One years left on my lease in Wimborne. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Wimborne.

Looking forward to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Wimborne. Conveyancing lawyers have said that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The total extent of the premises. This will be the flat itself but could also incorporate a loft or cellar if appropriate.
• Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the property, or working from home
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• 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
• 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
• What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

I have just appointed agents to market my basement apartment in Wimborne.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is pay the service charge 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 until 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 reputable estate agent office in Wimborne where we see a few flat sales jeopardised due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Wimborne conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease 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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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 purchaser.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £ 500000 apartment in Wimborne on Tuesday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Wimborne?

Wimborne conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes more often than not involves the buyer’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to such questions the majority will be content to do so. They may charge a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has no choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

I inherited a 1 bedroom flat in Wimborne, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Corresponding flats in Wimborne with over 90 years remaining are worth £214,000. The ground rent is £60 levied per year. The lease runs out on 21st October 2088

With 62 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to span between £19,000 and £22,000 plus costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.