I only have Fifty years remaining on my flat in Eltham. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

If you qualify, 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 granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the lessor. On the whole a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Eltham.

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Eltham. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Does the lease prohibit wood flooring?
• Are pets allowed in the flat?
• Whether the lease restricts you from subletting the flat, or having a home office for business
• You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
• Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?

I own a leasehold house in Eltham. Conveyancing and Aldermore mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1998. The conveyancing practitioner in Eltham who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to make sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. You do not need to instruct a Eltham conveyancing practitioner to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Eltham with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Eltham can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Eltham levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Eltham.
• If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are settled prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and pay 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy process and slows down many a Eltham conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is essential at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Following months of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Eltham. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Where there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Eltham residence is 103a Footscray Road in January 2014. The tribunal determines that the premium payable for the extended lease should be £34,500 according to the expert witness valuation calculation This case related to 1 flat.

In relation to leasehold conveyancing in Eltham what are the most common lease problems?

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

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• 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

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Leeds Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Eltham - Sample of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments?