Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 72 years unexpired on my lease in St John's Wood. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that 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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to find the freeholder. On the whole a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing St John's Wood.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in St John's Wood. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation 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. Strange as it may seem, 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).

What advice can you give us when it comes to appointing a St John's Wood conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a St John's Wood conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We suggested that you speak with several firms including non St John's Wood conveyancing practices before you 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 are the costs for lease extension conveyancing?

Can you provide any advice for leasehold conveyancing in St John's Wood from the point of view of saving time on the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in St John's Wood can be bypassed where you get in touch lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in St John's Wood state that internal structural alterations or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord acquiescing to such works. If you dont have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without checking with your lawyer in advance.
• A minority of St John's Wood leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers put in hand 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 actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the buyers or their lawyers.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should ensure that you have the original share certificate. Arranging a replacement share certificate can be a lengthy process and delays many a St John's Wood home move. Where a duplicate share certificate is required, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be advisable double-check by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to to exchange contracts if the lease term is under 75 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease term requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your premises on the market for sale.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £ 150000 apartment in St John's Wood next Tuesday . The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in St John's Wood?

St John's Wood conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes usually results in administration charges invoiced by landlords agents :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in St John's Wood
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for St John's Wood leasehold premises is £350. For St John's Wood 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 provide the information.

Following years of negotiations we are unable to agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in St John's Wood. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

if there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to decide the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a St John's Wood residence is Garden Flat 195 Goldhurst Terrace in May 2012. The Tribunal held in accordance with section 48 and Schedule 13 of the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease should be £60,855.00. This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 60.16 years.

St John's Wood Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider before Purchasing

Best to be warned if changing the roof or some other major work is due in the near future to be shared by the tenants and may well dramatically increase the the service costs or require a specific invoice. Be sure to enquire if there are any onerous restrictions in the lease. By way of example it is reasonably common in St John's Wood leases that pets are not permitted in in a block in St John's Wood. If you love the flatin St John's Wood but your cat is not allowed to make the move with you then you will be faced difficult choice.