I have recently realised that I have 62 years left on my flat in Kidbrooke. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

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 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 magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. For most situations a specialist would be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Kidbrooke.

I am hoping to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Kidbrooke. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. What should I be looking out for?

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

• You should be sent a copy of the lease

The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years

Does the lease prevent you from subletting the property, or having a home office for business

You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions

Repair and maintenance of the flat

What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease? For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Kidbrooke please ask your lawyer in advance of your conveyancing in Kidbrooke

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Kidbrooke. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

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

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

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?

If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the sale of our £250000 garden flat in Kidbrooke in 10 days. The landlords agents has quoted £396 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Kidbrooke?

Kidbrooke conveyancing on leasehold flats ordinarily involves fees being raised by landlords agents :

• Addressing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Kidbrooke
• 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 Kidbrooke leasehold property is £350. For Kidbrooke 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 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 Kidbrooke. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Kidbrooke conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Kidbrooke property is 18 Handen Road in April 2013. On 26 October 2012 District Judge Zimmels sitting at the Lambeth County Court made a Vesting Order that the Applicants be granted the right to acquire the freehold upon such terms and at such price determined by the LVT. The Tribunal arrived a figure of £39,535 as a valuation for the enfranchisement. This case affected 3 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 69.05 years.