Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years unexpired on my lease in Barkingside. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is missing. 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Barkingside.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Barkingside. Conveyancing and Virgin Money mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Barkingside who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Barkingside conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Barkingside conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Barkingside conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you speak with several firms including non Barkingside conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• What are the charges for lease extension work?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Barkingside with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Barkingside can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many landlords or managing agents in Barkingside levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Barkingside.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Barkingside leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you dont have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in the first instance.
• Some Barkingside leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is 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 lawyers.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Organising a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming process and slows down many a Barkingside conveyancing deal. If a new share certificate is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

I have had difficulty in trying to purchase the freehold in Barkingside. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the price.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Barkingside flat is 104 Coventry Road in July 2014. The Tribunal determined that the lease extension permium should be £22,896.15 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 60.29 years.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Barkingside what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Barkingside. All leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• 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 primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Chelsea Building Society, and Bank of Ireland all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

I purchased a garden flat in Barkingside, conveyancing formalities finalised 1998. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Equivalent flats in Barkingside with over 90 years remaining are worth £232,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2106

You have 80 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.