I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Altrincham. Before I get started I require certainty as to the unexpired term of the lease.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Altrincham - 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.

Helen (my wife) and I may need to sub-let our Altrincham basement flat for a while due to a career opportunity. We used a Altrincham conveyancing practice in 2003 but they have since shut and we did not have the foresight to get any advice as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Altrincham conveyancing solicitor is not available you can review your lease to see if it allows you to sublet the apartment. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you need to obtain consent from your landlord or some other party before subletting. The net result is that you cannot sublet in the absence of prior permission. The consent must not not be unreasonably turned down. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years unexpired on my lease in Altrincham. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. For most situations 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 in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Altrincham.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Altrincham from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Altrincham can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Some Altrincham leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 lawyers.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than unsettled.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy process and delays many a Altrincham home move. Where a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £ 400000 flat in Altrincham next week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Altrincham?

Altrincham conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically results in administration charges invoiced by management companies :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Altrincham
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Altrincham leasehold property is £350. For Altrincham 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 obliged to provide the information.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Altrincham - A selection of Queries Prior to buying

Most Altrincham leasehold flats will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the building levied on behalf of the landlord. Where you acquire the apartment you will have to pay this charge, usually periodically accross the year. This may differ from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built buildings. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay yearly, this is usually not a significant amount, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to check it because sometimes it can be surprisingly expensive.