Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years left on my flat in Blackfen. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What should I do?

If 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Blackfen.

I own a leasehold flat in Blackfen. Conveyancing and Leeds Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing solicitor in Blackfen who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Blackfen conveyancing practitioner to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note 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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Blackfen with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Blackfen can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Blackfen leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord approving such works. Where you dont have the approvals to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor first.

Some Blackfen leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 solicitors.

If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge 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 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 clearly preferable to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate can be a lengthy process and delays many a Blackfen conveyancing transaction. If a new share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £250000 flat in Blackfen next week. The management company has quoted £396 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Blackfen?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Blackfen conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Blackfen
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Blackfen leasehold premises is £350. For Blackfen 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 supply the information.

Having spent years of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Blackfen. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Blackfen conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Blackfen flat is 103a Footscray Road in January 2014. The tribunal determines that the premium payable for the extended lease should be £34,500 according to the expert witness valuation calculation This case related to 1 flat.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Blackfen what are the most common lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Blackfen. All leases are unique and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain provisions are missing. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You may encounter difficulties 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, The Mortgage Works, and Alliance & Leicester all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Blackfen