There are only 72 years unexpired on my lease in Kingsnorth. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. 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 lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist may be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Kingsnorth.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Kingsnorth. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation 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 ensure 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 advice for leasehold conveyancing in Kingsnorth from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Kingsnorth can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Kingsnorth charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have 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 cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kingsnorth.

If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Kingsnorth leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. Where you dont have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer in the first instance.

If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Kingsnorth conveyancing deal. If a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

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

Completion in due on the disposal of our £500000 flat in Kingsnorth in 5 days. The management company has quoted £384 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Kingsnorth?

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

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Kingsnorth
• 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 Kingsnorth leasehold premises is £350. For Kingsnorth 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 provide the information.

What makes a Kingsnorth lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Kingsnorth is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain sections are wrong. 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.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. National Westminster Bank, Bank of Scotland, and Britannia all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

I purchased a leasehold flat in Kingsnorth, conveyancing was carried out 7 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar flats in Kingsnorth with an extended lease are worth £213,000. The ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2096

You have 71 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £9,500 and £11,000 plus costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Kingsnorth