I have recently realised that I have 72 years left on my flat in Harlesden. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. On the whole a specialist would be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Harlesden.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my 2 bed apartment in Harlesden.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

It best that you clear the service charge 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 until 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in Harlesden. Conveyancing and Nationwide Building Society mortgage are in place. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Harlesden who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Harlesden conveyancing lawyer 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 legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

What advice can you give us when it comes to finding a Harlesden conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Harlesden conveyancing practice) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with several firms including non Harlesden conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?

I own a second floor flat in Harlesden. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium payable for the purchase of the freehold?

Where there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to decide the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Harlesden residence is First Floor Flat 2B Fortune Gate Road in May 2013. the tribunal decided that the price payable for the lease extension was £9,331, together with £900 in respect of outstanding ground rent. This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 74.31 years.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Harlesden what are the most frequent lease defects?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Harlesden. Most leases are individual and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses 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.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. HSBC Bank, Leeds Building Society, and Aldermore 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 does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Harlesden