I only have Seventy years left on my flat in Norbiton. I need 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 an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be extended by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. In some cases a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Norbiton.

I have just started marketing my ground floor flat in Norbiton.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is discharge 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 managing agents 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Norbiton. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

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. A critical element 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).

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Norbiton from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Norbiton can be reduced if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers conveyancers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? In particular have you installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Norbiton state that internal structural changes or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Where you fail to have the paperwork in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer first.
• A minority of Norbiton leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are financially capable of paying the annual 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 solicitors.
• If there is a history of conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are settled before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is a current dispute. You may need to swallow your pride and discharge any arrears of service charge or settle the dispute prior to the buyers completing the purchase. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled prior to the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over as opposed to unresolved.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should ensure that you are holding the original share certificate. Arranging a re-issued share certificate can be a time consuming process and delays many a Norbiton home move. If a new share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

Having spent years of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Norbiton. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Most definitely. We can put you in touch with a Norbiton conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Norbiton premises is Flat D 15 Claremont Gardens in September 2013. TheTribunal determined in accordance with section48 and Schedule13 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease should be fourteen thousand one hundred and eighty seven pounds (£14,187.00) This case affected 1 flat.

What are the frequently found defects that you witness in leases for Norbiton properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Norbiton is not unique. All leases are individual and drafting errors can result in certain clauses are wrong. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause problems when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Lloyds TSB Bank, Norwich and Peterborough Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Norbiton - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

What is the the remaining lease term?