There are only Fifty years remaining on my lease in South Kensington. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder 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 submit an application to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. You will be obliged to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. For most situations a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing South Kensington.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that appears to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just discovered that the title is leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in South Kensington. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be instructed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in South Kensington ?

The majority of houses in South Kensington are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in South Kensington so you should seriously consider looking for a South Kensington conveyancing practitioner and check that they have experience in transacting on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions for example requiring the freeholder’sconsent to conduct alterations. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the maintenance of the estate where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will advise you fully on all the issues.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in South Kensington from the perspective of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in South Kensington can be reduced where you instruct lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold information which will be required by the buyers solicitors.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the property would they have required Landlord’s consent? In particular have you laid down wooden flooring? South Kensington leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such alterations. Should you fail to have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your lawyer before hand.

Some South Kensington leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers obtain financial (bank) and professional references. The bank reference will need to confirm that the buyers are able to meet 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 you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Obtaining a re-issued share certificate is often a lengthy formality and delays many a South Kensington home move. If a reissued share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this as soon as possible.

You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but you should double-check by asking your solicitors. A purchaser's lawyer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an as soon as possible that you consider whether the lease term for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

Completion in due on our sale of a £425000 flat in South Kensington next Thursday . The managing agents has quoted £336 for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in South Kensington?

South Kensington conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually necessitates administration charges levied by freeholders :

• Completing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in South Kensington
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for South Kensington leasehold premises is £350. For South Kensington 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 obliged to supply the information.

I have had difficulty in trying to purchase the freehold in South Kensington. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a South Kensington residence is Flat 16 21/22 Stanhope Gardens in November 2010. the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal concluded that the premium to be paid by the tenant on the grant of a new lease, in accordance with section 56 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993, was £106,975 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 51.93 years.

What makes a South Kensington lease defective?

Leasehold conveyancing in South Kensington is not unique. Most leases are unique and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Barclays , Chelsea Building Society, and Barclays Direct all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to withdraw.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in South Kensington