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

If the lease is registered - and most are in Croydon - 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 remaining on my lease in Croydon. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. 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 apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist would be helpful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Croydon.

Expecting to sign contracts shortly on a ground floor flat in Croydon. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they report fully next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Croydon should include some of the following:

• Setting out your rights in respect of the communal areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease include a right of way over a path or staircase?

Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

Does the lease prevent you from renting out the flat, or having a home office for business

You must be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease

Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?

Repair and maintenance of the flat

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Croydon please enquire of your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Croydon

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Croydon. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to 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. 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).

Completion in due on our sale of a £200000 apartment in Croydon on Tuesday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £300 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Croydon?

Croydon conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually necessitates fees being levied by freeholders :

• Addressing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Croydon
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Croydon leasehold property is £350. For Croydon 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 required to provide the information.

I inherited a first floor flat in Croydon. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?

if there is a absentee landlord or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to make a decision on the price.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Croydon property is 29 Woodstock Road in April 2014. the Tribunal determined that the premiums to be paid into court in respect of the purchase of the freehold registered at HMLR under Title N0.SY3997 should be £7,217. This case was in relation to 4 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 98 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Croydon