Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 68 years remaining on my lease in Bowes Park. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. 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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years 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 an enquiry agent would be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Bowes Park.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Bowes Park. Conveyancing and Barnsley Building Society mortgage organised. A letter has just been received 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 practitioner in Bowes Park who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Bowes Park conveyancing lawyer to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I work for a reputable estate agency in Bowes Park where we have experienced a few leasehold sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Bowes Park conveyancing solicitors. Could you confirm whether the seller of a flat can instigate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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 proposed purchaser need not have to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 purchaser.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Bowes Park from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Bowes Park can be bypassed if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ representatives.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Bowes Park charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Bowes Park.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Bowes Park state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord acquiescing to such works. Should you fail to have the approvals to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer before hand.

If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where a dispute is unresolved. You may have to bite the bullet and 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 will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.

You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your solicitors. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £300000 flat in Bowes Park in just under a week. The managing agents has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a flat conveyance in Bowes Park?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Bowes Park 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 conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Bowes Park
• 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 solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Bowes Park leasehold property is £350. For Bowes Park 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 answers.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such issues? Can you recommend a Bowes Park conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?

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

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Bowes Park flat is First Floor Flat 109 Lyndhurst Road in May 2010. Following a vesting order by Edmonton County Court on 29th October 2009 the Tribunal decided on a figure of £5,012 for a lease extension. This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 81.79 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Bowes Park