Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years remaining on my flat in Abbey Wood. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be used as proof that the freeholder 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 overseeing Abbey Wood.

Back In 2008, I bought a leasehold flat in Abbey Wood. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1993. The conveyancing practitioner in Abbey Wood who previously acted has long since retired.Any advice?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. You do not need to instruct a Abbey Wood conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of apartments in Abbey Wood both have in the region of forty five years unexpired on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I work for a busy estate agent office in Abbey Wood where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Abbey Wood conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

We expect to complete the disposal of our £450000 garden flat in Abbey Wood next week. The freeholder has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Abbey Wood?

Abbey Wood conveyancing on leasehold flats normally requires the purchaser’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is under no legal obligation to answer these enquiries most will be willing to assist. They are entitled invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration fees, otherwise the charge is technically not due. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

My wife and I have hit a brick wall in seeking a lease extension in Abbey Wood. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

in cases where there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to judgment on the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Abbey Wood premises is Various @ Colombus Square in January 2012. the Tribunal calculated the premiums to be paid for new leases for each of the flats in Mariners Walk to be £3822 and the premium to be paid for the new lease of 2 Knights Court to be £4439. This case related to 13 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 76 years.

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Lease Extensions in Abbey Wood