I have recently realised that I have 72 years remaining on my lease in Woburn Sands. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

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. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Woburn Sands.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Woburn Sands.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Woburn Sands. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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. A critical element 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 long established estate agency in Woburn Sands where we see a few flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Woburn Sands conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension formalities 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 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. 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 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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £ 400000 garden flat in Woburn Sands next week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Woburn Sands?

Woburn Sands conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually requires the buyer’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions the majority will be content to do so. They may levy a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is above £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Woburn Sands Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

Who manages the building? You should want to find out as much as you can concerning the company managing the building as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are frequently at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to practical issues such as the upkeep of the common parts. Enquire of prospective neighbours what they think of their management. On a final note, investigate as to the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the appropriate party and precisely how they are spending that money.