Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Brunswick Park. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. For most situations a specialist would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Brunswick Park.

Planning to exchange soon on a garden flat in Brunswick Park. Conveyancing solicitors have said that they are sending me a report next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Brunswick Park should include some of the following:

• You should receive a copy of the lease

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to tick a lot of boxes, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have since discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Brunswick Park. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been appointed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Brunswick Park are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Brunswick Park in which case you should be shopping around for a Brunswick Park conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your solicitor should appraise you on the various issues.

I am employed by a busy estate agency in Brunswick Park where we see a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Brunswick Park conveyancing solicitors. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can instigate the lease extension formalities 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means 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.

An alternative approach is 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 buyer.

Following months of correspondence we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Brunswick Park. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Brunswick Park conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Brunswick Park premises is 23 Beaconsfield Road in July 2013. The Tribunals decided that the amount payable was £31,203 for the freehold. This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 70.31 years.

What makes a Brunswick Park lease defective?

Leasehold conveyancing in Brunswick Park is not unique. All leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• 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 could 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. Birmingham Midshires, Barnsley Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.