I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Fortis Green. Before I set the wheels in motion I want to be sure as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Fortis Green - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details 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.

My husband and I may need to rent out our Fortis Green 1st floor flat temporarily due to a career opportunity. We instructed a Fortis Green conveyancing practice in 2001 but they have closed and we did not have the foresight to seek any guidance as to whether the lease allows us to sublet. How do we find out?

Notwithstanding that your last Fortis Green conveyancing lawyer is not around you can check your lease to check if it allows you to sublet the property. The accepted inference is that if the deeds are silent, subletting is allowed. Quite often there is a prerequisite that you are obliged to obtain permission from your landlord or other appropriate person before subletting. This means that you cannot sublet without prior permission. The consent should not be unreasonably refused ore delayed. If your lease does not allow you to sublet you will need to ask your landlord if they are willing to waive this restriction.

There are only 72 years remaining on my flat in Fortis Green. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. 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 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 magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Fortis Green.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Fortis Green from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Fortis Green can be avoided if you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers representatives.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Fortis Green leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you dont have the paperwork to hand do not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.
• If there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved prior to the flat being put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle 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 are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the buyers, 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 freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate is often a lengthy process and frustrates many a Fortis Green home move. If a duplicate share is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is below 80 years. It is therefore essential at an early stage that you identify whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

Despite our best endeavours, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in Fortis Green. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

if there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to make a decision on the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Fortis Green premises 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 was in relation to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 68 years.

Are there common problems that you see in leases for Fortis Green properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Fortis Green is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Santander, Skipton 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 provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

Fortis Green Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments? The majority of Fortis Green leasehold apartments will incur a service charge for the upkeep of the block set on behalf of the freeholder. If you buy the flat you will have to pay this amount, normally quarterly accross the year. This could be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal areas. There will also be a rentcharge to be met yearly, this is usually not a exorbitant sum, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to enquire it because sometimes it can be surprisingly expensive.