I am on look out for some leasehold conveyancing in North Kensington. Before diving in I would like to find out the unexpired term of the lease.

If the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in North Kensington - 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.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Seventy years left on my flat in North Kensington. I am keen to get lease extension but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

If 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 enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. For most situations a specialist would be helpful to try and locate and prepare an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing North Kensington.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to be perfect, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just been informed that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in North Kensington. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in North Kensington are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in North Kensington in which case you should be shopping around for a North Kensington conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as obtaining the freeholder’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your conveyancer will advise you fully on all the issues.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in North Kensington where we see a few flat sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given conflicting advice from local North Kensington conveyancing firms. Can you confirm whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease 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. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

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.

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in North Kensington with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in North Kensington can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers representatives.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in North Kensington charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in North Kensington.
• Some North Kensington leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. The 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 service charge figures so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If there is a history of conflict with your landlord or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The buyers and their solicitors will be concerned about purchasing a property where there is a current dispute. You will have to accept that you will have to discharge 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 purchasers, but it is better to present the dispute as over rather than ongoing.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should ensure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a duplicate share certificate can be a time consuming formality and slows down many a North Kensington conveyancing deal. Where a reissued share certificate is needed, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this as soon as possible.

I own a basement flat in North Kensington. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the premium due for a lease extension?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a North Kensington conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a North Kensington flat is 93 Oakwood Court in June 2010. the LVT determined that the premium to be paid for the new lease was £492,083, This case related to 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 37.79 years.

North Kensington Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider before buying

Does the lease have onerous restrictions?