Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Childs Hill. Before I get started I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Childs Hill - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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.

I have recently realised that I have 72 years unexpired on my lease in Childs Hill. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application 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. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Childs Hill.

I've recently bought a leasehold property in Childs Hill. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure 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 work for a reputable estate agent office in Childs Hill where we see a few leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given conflicting advice from local Childs Hill conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

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 buyer can avoid having to sit tight for 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 at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

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 buyer.

I have had difficulty in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in Childs Hill. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

if there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the LVT to make a decision on the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Childs Hill property is Flat A 372 Cricklewood Lane in January 2013. The Tribunal decided that the premium for the extended lease should be £5,750.00 and that the terms of the new lease should be those set out in annex to the decsion This case related to 1 flat.

What are the common problems that you see in leases for Childs Hill properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Childs Hill is not unique. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements 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

You may encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, Coventry Building Society, and TSB all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Childs Hill - Sample of Queries Prior to buying

The prefered form of lease structure is if the freehold reversion is in the ownership of the leaseholders. In this situation the lessees benefit from being in charge if their destiny and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually retained where it is bigger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves.