There are only 62 years left on my lease in Brimsdown. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order 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 done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Brimsdown.

Back In 2009, I bought a leasehold flat in Brimsdown. Conveyancing and Bank of Scotland mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Brimsdown who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to incur the fees of a Brimsdown conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured 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.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Brimsdown conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Brimsdown conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Brimsdown conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be useful:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Brimsdown who can give a testimonial?

What are the costs for lease extension work?

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Brimsdown from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Brimsdown can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Brimsdown charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Brimsdown.

In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Brimsdown leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you fail to have the approvals to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.

Some Brimsdown leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the annual 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 purchasers or their lawyers.

If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate can be a time consuming formality and delays many a Brimsdown conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £350000 apartment in Brimsdown next week. The landlords agents has quoted £408 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Brimsdown?

For most leasehold sales in Brimsdown 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 enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Brimsdown
• 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 lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Brimsdown leasehold property is £350. For Brimsdown 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 to extend my lease without success. Can a leaseholder apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Brimsdown conveyancing firm to represent me?

Where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to arrive at the sum to be paid.

An example of a Vesting Order and Purchase of freehold case for a Brimsdown premises is Ground Floor Flat 4A Baronet Road in February 2010. Following a vesting order by Edmonton County Court on 23rd December 2008 (case number 8ED064) the Tribunal decided that the price that the Applicant for the freehold interest should pay is £8,689.00 This case was in relation to 2 flats. The unexpired term was 80.01 years.