There are only Fifty years left on my flat in Oldham. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

If you qualify, 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent would be useful to conduct investigations and to produce 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 property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Oldham.

Due to complete next month on a garden flat in Oldham. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

Does the lease prevent you from renting out the flat, or working from home

You should be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has

Repair and maintenance of the flat

The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building

What you can do if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Oldham please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Oldham

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Oldham. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Oldham who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to incur the fees of a Oldham conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Oldham where we have experienced a number of flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Oldham conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as 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 buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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.

Completion in due on our sale of a £225000 maisonette in Oldham next week. The management company has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Oldham?

Oldham conveyancing on leasehold apartments ordinarily involves administration charges levied by management companies :

• Answering pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Oldham
• 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 conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Oldham leasehold premises is £350. For Oldham 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 Oldham - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

In the main the outlay for major works tend not to be built into the service charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Oldham obliged leaseholders to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific purpose of establishing a fund for major repairs or maintenance. Plenty Oldham leasehold apartments will have a service bill for the upkeep of the block set by the landlord. Where you buy the flat you will have to pay this charge, normally periodically accross the year. This may be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common grounds. There will also be a ground rent to be met yearly, this is usually not a large sum, say about £25-£75 but you need to enquire it because sometimes it can be many hundreds of pounds. You should want to find out as much as possible concerning the managing agents as they will affect your use and enjoyment of the property. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you will be in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to every day matters like the upkeep of the communal areas. Enquire of other people what they think of their service. On a final note, find out the dates that the maintenance fees are due to the relevant party and specifically what it includes.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Oldham