Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my lease in Kenton. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

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 mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as evidence 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 application to the County Court covering Kenton.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in Kenton.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should 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 managing agents 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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Kenton with the purpose of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kenton can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ lawyers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Kenton state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such works. Should you fail to have the approvals to hand do not communicate with the landlord without checking with your solicitor in the first instance.
• Some Kenton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying 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 lawyers.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share certificate. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Kenton conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to verify this by asking your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the remaining number of years is below 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 150000 apartment in Kenton on Friday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> 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 flat conveyance in Kenton?

Kenton conveyancing on leasehold flats normally involves the purchaser’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to address these enquiries the majority will be content to assist. They are at liberty invoice a reasonable administration fee for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no upper cap for such fees. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the charge is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have little option but to pay whatever is demanded should you wish to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I have given up negotiating a lease extension in Kenton. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

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

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Kenton flat is 139/139A Masons Avenue in February 2010. this was a case with an absentee freeholder. As a result the leaseholders applied to Willesden County Court for an order dispensing with the giving of a notice of claim.14th October 2009 District Judge Brar granted a vesting order and the court directed that the matter should be transferred to this tribunal to determine the freehold premium. The tribunal concluded on a fi
gure of £13,000 for the freehold interest This case was in relation to 1 flat. The unexpired term was 74 years.

What makes a Kenton lease unmortgageable?

Leasehold conveyancing in Kenton is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain sections are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You may encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Nationwide Building Society, Virgin Money, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Kenton, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Kenton with over 90 years remaining are worth £227,000. The ground rent is £50 invoiced annually. The lease expires on 21st October 2096

You have 70 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £9,500 and £11,000 as well as legals.

The figure above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. You should not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.