Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years left on my lease in Hanworth. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application 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 prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the lessor. On the whole a specialist may be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Hanworth.

I today plan to offer on a house that appears to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently discovered that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Hanworth. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Hanworth are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in Hanworth in which case you should be shopping around for a Hanworth conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. Being a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to conduct changes to the property. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your conveyancer will report to you on the legal implications.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Hanworth. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before 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. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part 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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Hanworth from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Hanworth can be reduced if you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers solicitors.
• The majority landlords or Management Companies in Hanworth charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack 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 frequent cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Hanworth.

A minority of Hanworth leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their solicitors.

If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You will have to accept that you will have to pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. 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 unsettled.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but you should verify this via your lawyers. A buyer’s lawyer will not be happy to advise their client to where the lease term is under 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £300000 garden flat in Hanworth next week. The freeholder has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Hanworth?

Hanworth conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes nine out of ten times involves administration charges invoiced by landlords agents :

• Completing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Hanworth
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 Hanworth leasehold property is £350. For Hanworth 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 obliged to supply answers.

I own a second floor flat in Hanworth. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for a lease extension?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Hanworth conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Hanworth residence is 147 Redford Close in June 2012. The Tribunal determined the lease extension premium to be at £4,200 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 82.93 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Hanworth