I have recently realised that I have Sixty One years left on my flat in Brent Cross. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

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 extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Brent Cross.

Back In 2008, I bought a leasehold house in Brent Cross. Conveyancing and Norwich and Peterborough Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Brent Cross who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First contact the Land Registry to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Brent Cross conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Brent Cross both have about fifty years unexpired on the lease term. should I be concerned?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As a lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more expensive to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I am employed by a busy estate agent office in Brent Cross where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Brent Cross conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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.

I inherited a a ground floor purpose built flat in Brent Cross. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium due for the purchase of the freehold?

Where there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to judgment on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Brent Cross property is First Floor Flat 61 Wilberforce Road in March 2014. The premium payable was £10,130 and the case was remitted back to the Willesden County Court to effect the Vesting Order (Claim No 3W103100). This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 71 years.

What makes a Brent Cross lease defective?

Leasehold conveyancing in Brent Cross is not unique. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• 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

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Nationwide Building Society, Barnsley Building Society, and Alliance & Leicester all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

Brent Cross Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

Plenty Brent Cross leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service charge for maintenance of the block invoiced by the freeholder. Should you buy the apartment you will have to pay this contribution, normally periodically throughout the year. This could be anything from two or three hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large communal areas. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent for you to pay annual, this is usually not a large figure, say approximately £25-£75 but you should to check as on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds. Best to be warned if redecorating or some other significant cost is pending to be shared amongst the tenants and will dramatically impact the level of the maintenance charges or require a specific invoice.