Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years unexpired on my lease in Surbiton. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

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 Court. You will be obliged to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the landlord. On the whole a specialist would be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Surbiton.

Looking forward to complete next month on a ground floor flat in Surbiton. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Surbiton should include some of the following:

• You should receive a copy of the lease

Does the lease require carpeting throughout thus preventing wood flooring?

Will you be prohibited or prevented from having pets in the property?

Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future

Whether the landlord has obligations to ensure rights of quiet enjoyment over your property and do you know what it means in practice?

The landlord’s obligations to repair and maintain the building. It is important that you know who is responsible for the repair and maintenance of every part of the building

What options are open to you if a neighbour is in violation of a provision in their lease? For a comprehensive list of information to be included in your report on your leasehold property in Surbiton please enquire of your solicitor in ahead of your conveyancing in Surbiton

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to meet my requirements, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have subsequently been informed that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are particular concerns purchasing a leasehold house in Surbiton. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been appointed. Will my lawyers set out the implications of buying a leasehold house in Surbiton ?

Most houses in Surbiton are freehold rather than leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Surbiton in which case you should be shopping around for a Surbiton 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 number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want to the property. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the landlord’spermission to conduct alterations. It may be necessary to pay a maintenance charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the property is part of an estate. Your solicitor will advise you fully on all the issues.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Surbiton from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Surbiton can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as you market your property and request that they start to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Surbiton levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management information sought on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Surbiton.

If you have carried out any alterations to the premises would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Surbiton leases often stipulate that internal structural changes or installing wooden flooring calls for a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. If you dont have the paperwork in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your conveyancer in the first instance.

A minority of Surbiton leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (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 solicitors.

If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you are holding the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate can be a lengthy process and delays many a Surbiton conveyancing transaction. If a duplicate share certificate is necessary, do contact the company officers or managing agents (where relevant) for this at the earliest opportunity.

We expect to complete our sale of a £400000 apartment in Surbiton in 8 days. The landlords agents has quoted £372 for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Surbiton?

For the majority of leasehold sales in Surbiton conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-contract questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Surbiton
• 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 conveyancer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Surbiton leasehold premises is £350. For Surbiton 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 required to provide answers.

I am the leaseholder of a two-bedroom flat in Surbiton. Given that I can not reach agreement with the landlord, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal make a decision on the sum due for a lease extension?

if there is a missing landlord or where there is dispute about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to assess the price.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Surbiton property is Flat D 15 Claremont Gardens in September 2013. TheTribunal determined in accordance with section48 and Schedule13 of the Leasehold Reform,Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 that the premium for the extended lease should be fourteen thousand one hundred and eighty seven pounds (£14,187.00) This case was in relation to 1 flat.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Surbiton