I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Crofton Park. Before I get started I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Crofton Park - 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.

There are only 62 years unexpired on my lease in Crofton Park. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist may be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Crofton Park.

I am looking at a two apartments in Crofton Park which have about fifty years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Crofton Park. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the value of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this field

I am employed by a reputable estate agency in Crofton Park where we see a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received inconsistent advice from local Crofton Park conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as 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 need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done before, or simultaneously with 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 purchaser.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Crofton Park with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Crofton Park can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Crofton Park charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for 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 Crofton Park.
• Some Crofton Park leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet the yearly 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 solicitors.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than ongoing.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Notwithstanding our best efforts, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in Crofton Park. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

if there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to decide the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Crofton Park residence is Flat b 14 Kemble Road in May 2014. The Tribunal assessed the value of the premium payable for the lease extension to be £9,761 This case affected 1 flat.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Crofton Park - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge liability? Who are the managing agents? It would be prudent to find out if there are any onerous prohibitions in the lease. For example it is very common in Crofton Park leases that pets are not allowed in certain buildings in Crofton Park. If you love the flatin Crofton Park but your dog is not allowed to move with you then you will be faced difficult compromise.