I am in need of some leasehold conveyancing in Morden. Before diving in I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

If the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Morden - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

There are only 68 years remaining on my flat in Morden. I now wish to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. 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 mean that your lease can be extended 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 may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Morden.

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agent office in Morden where we have witnessed a number of flat sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local Morden conveyancing solicitors. Could you clarify whether the seller of a flat can commence the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the disposal of the property.

Alternatively, it may be possible to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Morden with the aim of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Morden can be bypassed if you instruct lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to collate the leasehold information needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Morden leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you dont have the consents to hand do not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer before hand.
• A minority of Morden leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are 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 there is a history of any disputes with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is put on the market. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a property where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and discharge any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. 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 details of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to present the dispute as over rather than unresolved.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Arranging a new share certificate is often a lengthy process and frustrates many a Morden home move. If a new share certificate is needed, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on our sale of a £ 325000 garden flat in Morden on Monday in a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Morden?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Morden conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-exchange enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Morden
• 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 Morden leasehold property is £350. For Morden 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 provide answers.

I own a first floor flat in Morden. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the premium payable for a lease extension?

if there is a missing landlord or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to decide the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Morden residence is 14 Nutwell Street in January 2014. The premium payable for the acquisition of a new lease of the subject premises was in the sum of £30,523 This case affected 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 62.94 years.

Morden Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

Is anyone aware of any major works anticipated that will likely increase the maintenance fees? In the main the outlay for major works are not wrapped into the service charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Morden require tenants to contribute towards a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major repairs or maintenance.