Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Harold Wood. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. 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 enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Harold Wood.

I am hoping to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Harold Wood. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Harold Wood should include some of the following:

• Defining your rights in relation to common areas in the building.By way of example, does the lease provide for a right of way over a path or staircase?

Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?

Are pets allowed in the flat?

You must be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease

Repair and maintenance of the flat

The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building

Responsibility for repairing the window frames For details of the information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Harold Wood please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in Harold Wood

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Harold Wood which have about fifty years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease decreases and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Harold Wood from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Harold Wood can be bypassed if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Harold Wood state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord consenting to such works. If you fail to have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.

A minority of Harold Wood leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 solicitors.

If you have had any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be warry about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and 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 ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You will still have to reveal details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unsettled.

You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your conveyancers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 75 years. It is therefore important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Completion in due on the disposal of our £200000 maisonette in Harold Wood in just under a week. The management company has quoted £324 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Harold Wood?

Harold Wood conveyancing on leasehold apartments typically involves fees being raised by managing agents :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Harold Wood
• 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 Harold Wood leasehold property is £350. For Harold Wood 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 supply the information.

I have had difficulty in seeking a lease extension in Harold Wood. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a Harold Wood conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Harold Wood residence is 37 Lodge Court High Street in November 2013. the decision of the LVT was that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £25,559 This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 57.5 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Harold Wood