Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years left on my lease in Ilkeston. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. For most situations a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Ilkeston.

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a garden flat in Ilkeston. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, freeholder
• The total extent of the demise. This will be the flat itself but might include a loft or cellar if applicable.
• Setting out your legal entitlements in respect of common areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease provide for a right of way over a path or hallways?
• Are pets allowed in the flat?
• Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the flat, or having a home office for business
• What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease?

Back In 2001, I bought a leasehold flat in Ilkeston. Conveyancing and Yorkshire Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Ilkeston who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Ilkeston conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Ilkeston. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Ilkeston from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ilkeston can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Ilkeston charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Ilkeston.
• A minority of Ilkeston leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to 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 solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this via your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Ilkeston Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Queries before buying

How is the lease structured? Is anyone aware of any major works on the horizon that will add a premium to the service charges?