I only have 68 years unexpired on my lease in Bexleyheath. I now wish to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 done all that could be expected to find the landlord. On the whole a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Bexleyheath.

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor flat in Bexleyheath.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is 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 unless 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

I today plan to offer on a house that seems to be perfect, at a reasonable price which is making it more attractive. I have subsequently discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a leasehold house in Bexleyheath. Conveyancing solicitors have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Bexleyheath are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are purchasing in Bexleyheath in which case you should be looking for a Bexleyheath conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the landlord’spermission to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will report to you on the legal implications.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath can be reduced where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Bexleyheath charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bexleyheath.

If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to present the dispute as historic as opposed to unresolved.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Bexleyheath home move. Where a new share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this sooner rather than later.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Completion in due on the sale of our £200000 garden flat in Bexleyheath in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £360 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Bexleyheath?

For most leasehold sales in Bexleyheath conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Bexleyheath
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Bexleyheath leasehold property is £350. For Bexleyheath 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 supply answers.

Notwithstanding our best efforts, we have been unsuccessful in negotiating a lease extension in Bexleyheath. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Bexleyheath 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 affected 13 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 76 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bexleyheath