Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years remaining on my flat in Tyldesley. I now want 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 mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to 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 vesting order request to the County Court covering Tyldesley.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Tyldesley. Conveyancing and Santander mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in Tyldesley who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Tyldesley conveyancing lawyer 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 rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Tyldesley where we see a number of leasehold sales put at risk as a result of short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Tyldesley conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £ 450000 flat in Tyldesley next Thursday . The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Tyldesley?

Tyldesley conveyancing on leasehold flats normally necessitates the purchaser’s lawyer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions most will be willing to do so. They may charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it is in excess of £800. The management information fee levied by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the invoice is technically not due. In reality one has little choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

Are there common deficiencies that you see in leases for Tyldesley properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Tyldesley is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You may have a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Birmingham Midshires, Coventry Building Society, and Barclays Direct all have express 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 grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

I own a basement flat in Tyldesley, conveyancing was carried out in 2011. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding properties in Tyldesley with a long lease are worth £207,000. The ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2097

With 71 years left to run we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed investigations. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action placing reliance on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.