Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years remaining on my flat in Manor Park. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

If you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply 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. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to find the lessor. For most situations a specialist would be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be used as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Manor Park.

I am attracted to a couple of maisonettes in Manor Park both have about 50 years unexpired on the leases. should I be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Manor Park. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the marketability of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more costly to acquire a lease extension. This is why it is generally wise to extend the lease term. More often than not it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We advise that you get professional help from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Manor Park. Am I liable to pay service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, 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 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 are your top tips when it comes to finding a Manor Park conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Manor Park conveyancing firm) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We advise that you make enquires with several firms including non Manor Park conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be helpful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Manor Park who can give a testimonial?

Following years of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Manor Park. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

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

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Manor Park premises is 240 Strone Road in January 2014. the tribunal held that the price to be paid for the freehold interest was£23,538 of which£13,017 is attributable to the ground floor flat and £10,521 to the
first floor flat. This case related to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 65.5 years.

What makes a Manor Park lease unacceptable for security purposes?

Leasehold conveyancing in Manor Park is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain sections are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

You may encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Yorkshire Building Society, Barnsley Building Society, and Platform Home Loans Ltd all have very detailed requirements 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 grant the mortgage, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Manor Park - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

Plenty Manor Park leasehold flats will have a service bill for maintenance of the block invoiced by the landlord. Where you acquire the property you will have to meet this contribution, normally periodically throughout the year. This may be anything from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common areas. In all probability there will be a rentcharge to be met yearly, ordinarily this is not a significant sum, say around £50-£100 but you should to enquire as sometimes it can be many hundreds of pounds.