I only have Sixty One years remaining on my flat in Henlow. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Henlow.

I am hoping to complete next month on a leasehold property in Henlow. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
• 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 premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold flat in Henlow. Conveyancing and Coventry Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Henlow who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a Henlow conveyancing lawyer to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Henlow from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Henlow can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Henlow charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Henlow.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Henlow state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such changes. Where you fail to have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.
• A minority of Henlow leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £ 200000 garden flat in Henlow next Monday . The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Henlow?

Henlow conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not requires the buyer’s lawyer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to address such questions most will be content to assist. They are entitled levy a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is above £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Henlow Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to buying

This information is important as a) areas could cause problems for the building as the communal areas may start to deteriorate if maintenance remain unpaid b) if the leasehold owners have a dispute with the running of the building you will wish to know about it The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this situation the tenants enjoy being in charge if their destiny and although a managing agent is usually employed if it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. Many Henlow leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service bill for maintenance of the building levied by the management company. Where you acquire the flat you will have to pay this liability, normally periodically during the year. This may be anything from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for bigger purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge for you to pay annual, this is usually not a exorbitant amount, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to check it because sometimes it can be surprisingly expensive.