I have recently realised that I have Fifty years remaining on my lease in Dockland Settlement. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

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. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Dockland Settlement.

I own a leasehold flat in Dockland Settlement. Conveyancing and Clydesdale mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Dockland Settlement who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to instruct a Dockland Settlement conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Dockland Settlement with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Dockland Settlement can be reduced if you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Dockland Settlement levy fees 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 can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Dockland Settlement.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Dockland Settlement state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. Should you dont have the paperwork in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.
• Some Dockland Settlement 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 bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 475000 garden flat in Dockland Settlement next Wednesday . The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Dockland Settlement?

Dockland Settlement conveyancing on leasehold flats nine out of ten times necessitates fees being levied by management companies :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Dockland Settlement
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Dockland Settlement leasehold property is £350. For Dockland Settlement 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 required to supply the information.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can I make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Dockland Settlement conveyancing firm to help?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Dockland Settlement conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Dockland Settlement property is 73 Walerand Road in August 2012. the result of the findings of the Tribunal led to a premium to be paid for the extended lease in respect of Flat 73 in the sum of £10,040. The premium applicable in respect of Flat 85 was £5,710. This case related to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 72 years.

What are the common deficiencies that you encounter in leases for Dockland Settlement properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Dockland Settlement is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You could 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. Lloyds TSB Bank, Coventry Building Society, and Bank of Ireland all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Dockland Settlement Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should consider before buying

Does this lease have in excess of 80 years unexpired? Please note if it is less than 80 years it will affect the marketability of the property. Check with your mortgage company that they are content with remaining years on the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely have to extend the lease at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. Remember, in most cases you will be be obliged to have owned the residence for two years in order to be legally able to extend the lease.