Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years remaining on my flat in Bermondsey. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the landlord. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Bermondsey.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a reasonable figure which is making it more attractive. I have just been informed that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Bermondsey. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Bermondsey are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Bermondsey so you should seriously consider looking for a Bermondsey conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the freeholder’spermission to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your lawyer will report to you on the legal implications.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Bermondsey conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Bermondsey conveyancing practice) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you speak with two or three firms including non Bermondsey conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Bermondsey who can give a testimonial?

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Bermondsey with the purpose of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bermondsey can be avoided where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Bermondsey leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such works. Where you dont have the paperwork in place do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.
• A minority of Bermondsey leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to pay 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unsettled.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share document. Arranging a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy process and delays many a Bermondsey conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

All being well we will complete the disposal of our £ 275000 garden flat in Bermondsey in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Bermondsey?

Bermondsey conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates fees being levied by managing agents :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Bermondsey
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Bermondsey leasehold premises is £350. For Bermondsey 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 obliged to provide the information.

After months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Bermondsey. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to assess the price.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Bermondsey flat is 1-41 Royal Tower Lodge 40 Cartwright Street in April 2013. the tribunal adding the agreed value of capitalised ground rents and the reversion the price to be paid for the freehold was £1,187,000 This case related to 41 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 107 years.

I own a garden flat in Bermondsey, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Equivalent flats in Bermondsey with over 90 years remaining are worth £205,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 yearly. The lease ceases on 21st October 2103

With just 77 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as legals.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.