Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years left on my flat in Kilburn. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord 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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the landlord. In some cases a specialist may be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Kilburn.

I am hoping to complete next month on a garden flat in Kilburn. Conveyancing solicitors assured 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 Kilburn should include some of the following:

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord
• Setting out your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the building.E.G., does the lease provide for a right of way over a path or hallways?
• You need to be told what counts as a Nuisance in the lease
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.

I have just started marketing my basement flat in Kilburn.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Kilburn. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before 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).

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Kilburn with the aim of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kilburn can be avoided where you get in touch lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or Management Companies in Kilburn charge for providing management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Kilburn.
• Some Kilburn leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand bank and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Kilburn conveyancing deal. If a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable verify this via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to where the remaining number of years is under 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

Following months of dialogue we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Kilburn. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

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

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Kilburn flat is 4 & 4A Charteris Road in June 2009. the Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the enfranchisement of 4/4a Charteris Road to be £15,510 for at 4and £15,694 for at 4a This case affected 2 flats. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 70.02 years.

I bought a basement flat in Kilburn, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent properties in Kilburn with over 90 years remaining are worth £262,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £45 per annum. The lease ceases on 21st October 2105

With only 79 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £11,400 and £13,200 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more detailed investigations. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues that need to be considered and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.