I only have Seventy years left on my lease in Falconwood. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for for permission 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 find the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Falconwood.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to be perfect, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Falconwood. Conveyancing advisers have are soon to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Falconwood are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are purchasing in Falconwood in which case you should be looking for a Falconwood conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a lessee you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor will report to you on the legal implications.

Back In 2004, I bought a leasehold house in Falconwood. Conveyancing and The Royal Bank of Scotland mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1997. The conveyancing practitioner in Falconwood who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Falconwood conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for less than a fiver. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Falconwood where we have witnessed a few flat sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Falconwood conveyancing firms. Can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

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. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is 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.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Falconwood with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Falconwood can be avoided where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Falconwood charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for 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 frequent reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Falconwood.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Falconwood state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Where you dont have the consents to hand you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer in advance.
• A minority of Falconwood leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should 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 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 buyers or their lawyers.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Arranging a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy process and delays many a Falconwood home move. Where a reissued share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can a leaseholder apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Falconwood conveyancing firm to assist?

if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to assess the price.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Falconwood 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 was in relation to 1 flat.

Falconwood Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

In the main the cost for major works tend not to be included within maintenance charges, although some managing agents in Falconwood ask tenants to pay into a reserve fund and this is used to offset against larger repairs or maintenance. Is there a share of the freehold?