I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Leeswood. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that 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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to track down the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord 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 Leeswood.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor flat in Leeswood.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge the service charge 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 managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer until 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.

Back In 2001, I bought a leasehold flat in Leeswood. Conveyancing and Bank of Scotland mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Leeswood who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Leeswood conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a Leeswood conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Leeswood conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Leeswood conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How experienced is the firm with lease extension legislation?

What makes a Leeswood lease defective?

Leasehold conveyancing in Leeswood is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are missing. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• 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. Lloyds TSB Bank, Coventry Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed 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 am the registered owner of a split level flat in Leeswood, conveyancing formalities finalised in 2007. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding flats in Leeswood with a long lease are worth £190,000. The ground rent is £60 charged once a year. The lease expires on 21st October 2082

You have 59 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £26,600 and £30,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on a more accurate figure without more comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Leeswood