I have recently realised that I have 68 years remaining on my lease in Heanor. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. In some cases a specialist would be useful to try and locate and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Heanor.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Heanor. Conveyancing and Alliance & Leicester mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Heanor who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Heanor conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Heanor where we have witnessed a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Heanor conveyancing solicitors. Can you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. 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.

We expect to complete the sale of our £150000 garden flat in Heanor in 8 days. The management company has quoted £336 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Heanor?

Heanor conveyancing on leasehold flats more often than not involves the purchaser’s solicitor submitting enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to respond to these enquiries most will be willing to do so. They may charge a reasonable administration fee for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The management information fee required by the landlord must be sent together with a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Heanor what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Heanor. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. 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 premises
• 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 will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, Chelsea Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd 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 provide security, forcing the buyer to pull out.

Heanor Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Who are the managing agents? The prefered form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this arrangement the lessees enjoy being in charge if their destiny and even though a managing agent is usually employed where the building is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. It would be wise to investigate if the the lease contains any onerous restrictions in the lease. For instance plenty of leases prohibit pets being permitted in certain buildings in Heanor. If you love the apartmentin Heanor yet your dog is not allowed to make the move with you then you will be presented with a hard decision.

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Lease Extensions in Heanor