I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Woodley. Before I get started I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and most are in Woodley - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Harry (my fiance) and I may need to rent out our Woodley ground floor flat temporarily due to a new job. We used a Woodley conveyancing firm in 2003 but they have closed and we did not think at the time get any advice as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Some leases for properties in Woodley do contain a provision to say that subletting is only permitted with prior consent from the landlord. The landlord is not entitled to unreasonably refuse but, in such cases, they would need to see references. Experience dictates that problems are usually caused by unsatisfactory tenants rather than owner-occupiers and for that reason you can expect the freeholder to take up the references and consider them carefully before granting consent.

There are only Sixty One years left on my lease in Woodley. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. For most situations a specialist may be useful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Woodley.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Woodley conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Woodley conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Woodley conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

How many lease extensions have they completed in Woodley in the last twenty four months?

All being well we will complete the sale of our £200000 apartment in Woodley next week. The management company has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Woodley?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Woodley conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Woodley
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Woodley leasehold premises is £350. For Woodley 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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Woodley - A selection of Queries before buying

The prefered form of lease arrangement is if the freehold interest is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this scenario the tenants have being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is usually employed if the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent retained by the leaseholders. In the main the cost for major works are not incorporated into the maintenance charges, although there some managing agents in Woodley require tenants to pay into a reserve fund created for the specific intention of establishing a fund for larger works. Who is in charge of the block?

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Woodley