Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Yarm On Tees. I need to get lease extension but my landlord 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Yarm On Tees.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Yarm On Tees. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
• You need to be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
• Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Yarm On Tees. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation 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. 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 agent office in Yarm On Tees where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Yarm On Tees conveyancing solicitors. Can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can instigate 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £ 500000 garden flat in Yarm On Tees in 8 days. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Yarm On Tees?

Yarm On Tees conveyancing on leasehold flats usually involves the purchaser’s lawyer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries most will be content to do so. They may charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. 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 required by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of rights and obligations in relation to administration charges, otherwise the invoice is technically not due. In reality you have little option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

Yarm On Tees Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

This information is helpful as a) areas can result in problems for the building as the common areas may start to deteriorate where repairs remain unpaid b) if the leasehold owners have an issue with the managing agents you will need to know about it Most Yarm On Tees leasehold properties will have a service charge for maintenance of the block invoiced by the freeholder. If you buy the flat you will have to meet this charge, normally quarterly throughout the year. This can differ from a few hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. There will also be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a large amount, say around £50-£100 but you should to check it because occasionally it can be prohibitively expensive. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments?