Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Brent Park. Before diving in I want to be sure as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and almost all are in Brent Park - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

My fiance and I may need to sub-let our Brent Park garden flat for a while due to taking a sabbatical. We instructed a Brent Park conveyancing firm in 2004 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to get any guidance as to whether the lease permits subletting. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Brent Park conveyancing solicitor is no longer around you can review your lease to check if you are permitted to let out the property. The rule is that if the deeds are non-specific, subletting is permitted. There may be a precondition that you are obliged to seek consent via your landlord or some other party before subletting. This means you not allowed to sublet in the absence of prior permission. Such consent is not allowed to be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

I only have 68 years remaining on my flat in Brent Park. I now want to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. 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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist should be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Brent Park.

I’m about to sell my basement flat in Brent Park.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you pay the invoice 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 management companies 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Brent Park. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in Brent Park. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

if there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to arrive at the price payable.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Brent Park property is 7 Craven Park in June 2009. The tribunal considered it unnecessary to value the garage as an independent investment or to value each flat separately, providing that the marriage value calculation uses only the participating flats. Accordingly, the price determined by the Tribunal was £41,140 This case affected 5 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 73.14 years.