I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in Mortlake. Before diving in I would like to find out the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Mortlake - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars 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 Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Mortlake. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent would be useful to carry out a search and prepare a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court covering Mortlake.

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a couple of flats in Mortlake both have about forty five years unexpired on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Mortlake. The lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the saleability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. More often than not it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

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

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. 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).

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Mortlake conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Mortlake conveyancing practice) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Mortlake conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• How familiar is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• What volume of lease extensions have they carried out in Mortlake in the last 12 months?

My wife and I have hit a brick wall in trying to purchase the freehold in Mortlake. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to judgment on the sum to be paid.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Mortlake flat is 19 St. Margarets Crescent in August 2010. the tribunal was of the view that the premium to be paid by the leaseholder for the freehold reversion was £51,983.00 This case related to 3 flats. The unexpired lease term was 66.25 years.

I purchased a garden flat in Mortlake, conveyancing was carried out in 1998. Can you work out an approximate cost of a lease extension? Comparable properties in Mortlake with an extended lease are worth £175,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2106

With just 80 years left to run the likely cost is going to span between £7,600 and £8,800 plus 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 the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive investigations. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be additional concerns that need to be considered and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.