I only have Fifty years remaining on my lease in Maida Vale. I now want to extend my lease 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 apply 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 magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Maida Vale.

I've recently bought a leasehold house in Maida Vale. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before my ownership?

In a situation 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. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to be sure 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 top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Maida Vale from the point of view of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Maida Vale can be reduced if you appoint lawyers the minute your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Maida Vale levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Maida Vale.
• A minority of Maida Vale leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly 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 have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled before the property is put on the market. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is ongoing. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge 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 will still have to reveal particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Arranging a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Maida Vale conveyancing transaction. If a reissued share certificate is needed, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 475000 maisonette in Maida Vale next week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Maida Vale?

Maida Vale conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes more often than not requires the buyer’s conveyancer sending enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries the majority will be content to assist. They are at liberty levy a reasonable charge for responding to enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is £350, in some cases it exceeds £800. The management information fee invoiced by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is technically not due. In reality you have little choice but to pay whatever is requested of you should you wish to sell the property.

I have had difficulty in trying to reach an agreement for a lease extension in Maida Vale. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

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

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Maida Vale premises 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 remaining number of years on the lease was 70.02 years.

What makes a Maida Vale lease unmortgageable?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Maida Vale. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain provisions are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• 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

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Santander, The Mortgage Works, and Alliance & Leicester all have express conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

I invested in buying a 2 bed flat in Maida Vale, conveyancing was carried out half a dozen years ago. Can you let me have an estimate of the premium that my landlord can legally expect in return for granting a renewal of my lease? Equivalent flats in Maida Vale with over 90 years remaining are worth £167,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease terminates on 21st October 2100

With only 74 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to be between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to advice on the actual costs without more comprehensive due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.