Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Osterley. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is registered - and almost all are in Osterley - 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.

I have recently realised that I have 68 years unexpired on my flat in Osterley. I need to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. 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 magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Osterley.

I have just started marketing my basement flat in Osterley.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear the invoice 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 management companies will not acknowledge the buyer unless 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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Osterley from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Osterley can be bypassed where you instruct lawyers the minute your agents start marketing the property and ask them to put together the leasehold information needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Osterley levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual cause of frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Osterley.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Osterley state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you dont have the consents in place you should not contact the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance.
• A minority of Osterley leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand 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 purchasers or their lawyers.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Organising a duplicate share certificate is often a time consuming process and slows down many a Osterley home move. If a reissued share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

I am the leaseholder of a a ground floor purpose built flat in Osterley. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for the purchase of the freehold?

Where there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to decide the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Osterley flat is Ground Floor Flat 91 Bath Road in May 2009. in a case where the freeholder could not be traced, the Brentford County Court ordered that the Lease be surrendered in return for the grant of a new lease of the Premises at a premium determined by the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal. The tribunal concluded that the price payable by the Applicant for the new lease of the premises be £15,900 This case affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 60.45 years.

What makes a Osterley lease defective?

Leasehold conveyancing in Osterley is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will encounter difficulties when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Halifax, The Mortgage Works, and TSB all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, forcing the purchaser to withdraw.

Osterley Leasehold Conveyancing - Sample of Queries before Purchasing

If a Osterley lease has no more than 80 years it will impact the marketability of the flat. It is worth checking with your lender that they are happy with residual term of the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth discovering how much this would cost. For most Osterleylease extensions you will need to own the residence for a couple of years in order to be legally able to exercise a lease extension. Are any of leasehold owners in arrears of their service charge payments?