Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Worsley. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and almost all are in Worsley - 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.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Worsley. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. 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 enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Worsley.

I’m about to sell my garden flat in Worsley.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a half-yearly service charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is pay 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Worsley where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received contradictory information from local Worsley conveyancing firms. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

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 buyer need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with 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 buyer.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £425000 garden flat in Worsley in six days. The freeholder has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Worsley?

Worsley conveyancing on leasehold flats normally requires the purchaser’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer such questions the majority will be content to assist. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it exceeds £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that one has little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Worsley Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

What is the annual service fee and ground rent? In the main the outlay for major works are not built into the service charges, although some managing agents in Worsley obliged leasehold owners to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against major works. You should be aware that where the lease has less than eighty years it will impact the marketability of the apartment. Check with your bank that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out what this would cost. For most Worsleylease extensions you would need to own the premises for a couple of years before you are eligible to exercise a lease extension.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Worsley