I have recently realised that I have Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Honor Oak. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to track down the freeholder. For most situations an enquiry agent would be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Honor Oak.

Back In 2004, I bought a leasehold house in Honor Oak. Conveyancing and National Westminster Bank mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Honor Oak who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

First contact the Land Registry to make sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Honor Oak conveyancing firm to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two flats in Honor Oak both have approximately fifty years unexpired on the leases. Will this present a problem?

A lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a period of time. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more expensive to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you seek professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

What are your top tips when it comes to finding a Honor Oak conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Honor Oak conveyancing firm) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Honor Oak conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be of use:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?

What are the costs for lease extension conveyancing?

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £250000 flat in Honor Oak on Monday in a week. The management company has quoted £312 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Honor Oak?

Honor Oak conveyancing on leasehold apartments ordinarily necessitates administration charges raised by landlords agents :

• Completing conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Honor Oak
• 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 Honor Oak leasehold property is £350. For Honor Oak 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 answers.

After months of correspondence we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Honor Oak. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

in cases where there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to calculate the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Honor Oak residence is Flat 1 40-42 Ewelme Road in August 2012. the Tribunal assessed the premium for the lease extension in the sum of £11,800 This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 61.81 years.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Honor Oak