I only have Seventy years unexpired on my flat in Dartmouth Park. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. 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 submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. In some cases a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. 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 Dartmouth Park.

Looking forward to exchange soon on a leasehold property in Dartmouth Park. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report on Monday. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Defining your rights in respect of the communal areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease include a right of way over a path or hallways?
• An explanation as to the provision in the lease to pay service charges - with regard to both the building, and the more general rights a leaseholder has
• Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I am looking at a couple of apartments in Dartmouth Park which have about 50 years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Dartmouth Park from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Dartmouth Park can be avoided if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers representatives.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Dartmouth Park levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Dartmouth Park.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Dartmouth Park state that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such changes. If you dont have the paperwork in place do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor before hand.
• A minority of Dartmouth Park leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 solicitors.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a Dartmouth Park home move. If a duplicate share is required, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £ 325000 garden flat in Dartmouth Park next Thursday . The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Dartmouth Park?

Dartmouth Park conveyancing on leasehold apartments often necessitates the purchaser’s solicitor sending questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries the majority will be willing to assist. They are at liberty charge a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some transactions it is above £800. The administration charge required by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality you have little option but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to complete the sale of your home.

After years of dialogue we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Dartmouth Park. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

Where there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to arrive at the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Dartmouth Park premises is Flat 2 27 Mackeson Road in December 2012. The Tribunal assessed the value of the lease extension premium at £35,435 and rounded the figure to £35,500 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 64.77 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Dartmouth Park - Examples of Questions you should consider before buying