Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years remaining on my lease in Manor House. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

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 mean that your lease can be lengthened by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have made all reasonable attempts to find the freeholder. For most situations a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Manor House.

You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

I am hoping to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Manor House. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they are sending me a report next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
• Whether your lease has a provision for a reserve fund?
• Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your premises and do you know what it means in practice?
• The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What options are open to you if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

For details of the information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Manor House please ask your conveyancer in ahead of your conveyancing in Manor House

I have just started marketing my garden flat in Manor House.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should pay the service charge 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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer until 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Manor House with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Manor House can be avoided where you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Manor House leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such changes. Should you dont have the paperwork in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer first.
• If you have had any disputes with your freeholder or managing agents it is essential that these are settled prior to the flat being marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be nervous about purchasing a flat where a dispute is unsettled. You may need to swallow your pride and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve 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 particulars of the dispute to the buyers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as over as opposed to ongoing.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Organising a re-issued share certificate can be a lengthy formality and delays many a Manor House home move. If a new share is required, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this sooner rather than later.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but you should verify this via your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the lease term is under 75 years. It is therefore essential at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete the sale of our £ 400000 maisonette in Manor House next week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Manor House?

Manor House conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally necessitates administration charges invoiced by managing agents :

• Completing pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Manor House
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Manor House leasehold property is £350. For Manor House 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 provide answers.

My wife and I have hit a brick wall in trying to purchase the freehold in Manor House. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

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

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Manor House flat is 51 Lorne Road in November 2009. The price Payable as decided by the tribunal for the freehold reversion was £27,000. The valuation follows the order of the County Court made on 3 April 2008 granting a vesting order. This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 71 years.

I inherited a leasehold flat in Manor House, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar flats in Manor House with over 90 years remaining are worth £215,000. The ground rent is £65 levied per year. The lease ends on 21st October 2084

With 58 years unexpired we estimate the premium for your lease extension to be between £26,600 and £30,800 as well as plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.