There are only Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Denham. I now wish to get lease extension 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Denham.

I have just appointed agents to market my garden apartment in Denham.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Denham. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation 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. 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).

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Denham from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Denham can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Denham charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Denham.

If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a duplicate share certificate can be a lengthy process and slows down many a Denham home move. Where a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Completion in due on our sale of a £350000 flat in Denham on Thursday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Denham?

Denham conveyancing on leasehold flats usually necessitates fees being levied by freeholders :

• Addressing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Denham
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Denham leasehold premises is £350. For Denham 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.

Following years of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Denham. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to calculate the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Denham flat is Flats 8, 11 and 15 Craigmore Court 46 Murray Road in December 2013. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 8 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,438 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenants of Flat 11 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,791 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee. The tribunal held that the price payable by the Applicant tenant of Flat 15 to acquire an extended lease shall be £26,638 plus £1 to the intermediate lessee . This case affected 3 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 71 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Denham