I only have 72 years remaining on my lease in Fortis Green. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What are my options?

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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. On the whole a specialist would be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Fortis Green.

I have just started marketing my garden apartment in Fortis Green.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly service charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

It best that you pay the invoice as normal because all ground rent and service charges will be apportioned on completion, so you will be reimbursed by the buyer for the period running from after the completion date to the next payment date. Most managing agents will not acknowledge the buyer unless the service charges have been paid and are up to date so it is important for both buyer and seller for the seller to show that they are up to date. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Last month I purchased a leasehold flat in Fortis Green. Am I liable to pay 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. A critical element 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).

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

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Fortis Green can be avoided if you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Fortis Green charge for supplying management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should find out the actual amount of the charges. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Fortis Green.
• Some Fortis Green leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder 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 reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is unresolved. You will have to accept that you will have to 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 ahead of 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 reveal the dispute as historic as opposed to ongoing.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy process and frustrates many a Fortis Green conveyancing transaction. Where a new share is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £ 325000 maisonette in Fortis Green next week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Fortis Green?

For most leasehold sales in Fortis Green conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Fortis Green
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Fortis Green leasehold premises is £350. For Fortis Green 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 answers.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without success. Can I make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Fortis Green conveyancing firm to help?

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the LVT to judgment on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Fortis Green flat is 21 St Matthews Court Coppetts Road in February 2013. the applicant applied to the Tribunal for a determination of the premium payable for a lease extension pursuant to Section 48 of the Leasehold Reform (Housing and Urban Development ) Act 1993. The tribunal therefore ordered that the premium was to be £13,267. This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 68 years.

Fortis Green Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before buying

Be sure to investigate if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. By way of example it is reasonably common in Fortis Green leases that pets are not permitted in certain buildings in Fortis Green. If you love the apartmentin Fortis Green however your dog can’t move with you then you will be faced difficult decision.