I have recently realised that I have Seventy years remaining on my flat in Isleworth. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. In some cases a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Isleworth.

I am hoping to exchange soon on a basement flat in Isleworth. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

Setting out your legal entitlements 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?

Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?

Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the property, or working from home

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Isleworth please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Isleworth

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Isleworth.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you discharge the invoice 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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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.

I am looking at a two apartments in Isleworth both have about fifty years left on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Isleworth. The lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this arena

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £325000 garden flat in Isleworth next week. The management company has quoted £312 for Landlord’s certificate, 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 Isleworth?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Isleworth conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Isleworth
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Isleworth leasehold premises is £350. For Isleworth 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 the information.

I am the registered owner of a two-bedroom flat in Isleworth. In the absence of agreement between myself and the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for a lease extension?

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Isleworth conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Isleworth property is Ground Floor Flat 91 Bath Road in May 2009. in a case where the freeholder could not be traced, the Brentford County Court ordered that the Lease be surrendered in return for the grant of a new lease of the Premises at a premium determined by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal concluded that the price payable by the Applicant for the new lease of the premises be £15,900 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 60.45 years.

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Lease Extensions in Isleworth