There are only 68 years left on my lease in St Luke's. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What options are available to me?

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 Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you have used your best endeavours to find the landlord. In some cases a specialist should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be used as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering St Luke's.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a studio apartment in St Luke's. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me within the next couple of days. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in St Luke's should include some of the following:

• The length of the lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and informed of the importance of the 80 year mark
• Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?
• Does the lease prevent you from renting out the flat, or working from home
• You should be told what constitutes a Nuisance in the lease
• The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames
• What you can do if a neighbour breach a clause of their lease?

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in St Luke's.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear 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 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. This will smooth the conveyancing process.

I am looking at a couple of flats in St Luke's which have approximately forty five years remaining on the lease term. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in St Luke's. The lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As the lease gets shorter the value of the lease deteriorate and results in it becoming more expensive to acquire a lease extension. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on properties of this type. Lease enfranchisement can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional help from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

I own a second floor flat in St Luke's. Given that I can not reach agreement with the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for a lease extension?

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is disagreement 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 Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to calculate the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a St Luke's flat is 137 & 139 Haberdasher Street in December 2013. The Tribunal determines 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 for each Property should be £12,350.00. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The remaining number of years on the lease was 72.39 years.

Are there common defects that you see in leases for St Luke's properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in St Luke's is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and drafting errors can sometimes mean that certain clauses are not included. 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 premises
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You will encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Birmingham Midshires, Virgin Money, and TSB all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease does not cover certain provisions they may refuse to grant the mortgage, forcing the buyer to pull out.

Leasehold Conveyancing in St Luke's - Sample of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

The best form of lease arrangement is a share of the freehold. In this situation the leaseholders benefit from control and notwithstanding that a managing agent is usually employed where it is larger than a house conversion, the managing agent acts for the leaseholders themselves. You should be aware that where the lease has fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the flat. It is worth checking with your lender that they are willing to lend given the lease term. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will probably have to extend the lease sooner rather than later and it is worth finding out what this will be. For most St Luke'slease extensions you will be required to have owned the premises for two years in order to be eligible to extend the lease.