There are only 68 years remaining on my lease in Turvey. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What options are available to me?

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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Turvey.

Planning to exchange soon on a basement flat in Turvey. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• You should receive a copy of the lease

The total extent of the demise. This will be the flat itself but could also incorporate a roof space or cellar if applicable.

Defining your legal entitlements in respect of common areas in the block.For instance, does the lease grant a right of way over a path or hallways?

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

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 property and do you know what it means in practice? For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Turvey please enquire of your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Turvey

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Turvey. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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).

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Turvey with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Turvey can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Turvey state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you dont have the approvals to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.

If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where a dispute is unresolved. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.

If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Turvey home move. Where a new share is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this by asking your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £350000 flat in Turvey next Monday . The management company has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Turvey?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Turvey conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Turvey
• 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 Turvey leasehold property is £350. For Turvey 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 supply the information.

Turvey Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

On the whole the outlay for major works tend not to be included within maintenance charges, although a few managing agents in Turvey require leaseholders to contribute towards a sinking fund and this is used to offset against larger works. Please note that where the lease has less than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are content with the length of the lease. A short lease means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension sooner rather than later and you need to have some idea of how much this will be. For most Turveylease extensions you would be be obliged to have been the owner of the residence for 24 months in order to be entitled to extend the lease. It would be wise to discover as much as you can regarding the managing agents as they will impact your use and enjoyment of the property. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are frequently in the clutches of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day issues like the cleanliness of the common parts. Don't be shy to ask other tenants if they are happy with them. On a final note, be sure you know the dates that you are obliged pay the service charge to the managing agents and specifically what it includes.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Turvey