I only have Sixty One years unexpired on my flat in Altrincham. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Altrincham.

Due to exchange soon on a basement flat in Altrincham. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Altrincham should include some of the following:

• Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
• Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• 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
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Altrincham. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

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 be sure 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Altrincham with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Altrincham can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers lawyers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Altrincham charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Altrincham.
• Some Altrincham leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Altrincham conveyancing deal. Where a new share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is below 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

What makes a Altrincham lease unacceptable for security purposes?

Leasehold conveyancing in Altrincham is not unique. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You may have difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Halifax, The Mortgage Works, and Clydesdale all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I acquired a leasehold flat in Altrincham, conveyancing was carried out in 2008. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Equivalent flats in Altrincham with over 90 years remaining are worth £175,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2098

You have 72 years remaining on your lease we estimate the premium for your lease extension to range between £10,500 and £12,000 plus legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be considered and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.