Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years left on my flat in Lea Bridge. I am keen to extend my lease but my freeholder is can not be found. 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and prepare a report which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Lea Bridge.

Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold flat in Lea Bridge. Conveyancing and Birmingham Midshires mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in Lea Bridge who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is contact the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Lea Bridge conveyancing solicitor 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 freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

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

When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Lea Bridge conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Lea Bridge conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be useful:

• Can they put you in touch with client in Lea Bridge who can give a testimonial?
• What are the costs for lease extension conveyancing?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Lea Bridge with the intention of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Lea Bridge can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Lea Bridge levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. 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 Lea Bridge.
• If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is essential that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose details of the dispute to the buyers, but it is better to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a new share certificate is often a lengthy process and delays many a Lea Bridge home move. If a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You believe that you know the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your lawyers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is below 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £ 200000 garden flat in Lea Bridge next week. The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Lea Bridge?

Lea Bridge conveyancing on leasehold flats nine out of ten times necessitates fees being raised by managing agents :

• Addressing pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Lea Bridge
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Lea Bridge leasehold property is £350. For Lea Bridge 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.

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

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

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Lea Bridge flat is 104 Nightingale Road in May 2009. The Tribunal's Decision is that the premium torbe paid for the enfranchisement in this case is £112,174 This case was in relation to 10 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 71.25 years.

Lea Bridge Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

Does the lease contain onerous restrictions?