Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 62 years left on my flat in Thornton Heath. I now wish 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 apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to find the freeholder. In some cases an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Thornton Heath.

Due to sign contracts shortly on a basement flat in Thornton Heath. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Thornton Heath should include some of the following:

• 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 is subject to change
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• 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 the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Thornton Heath.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you 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 until 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.

Can you provide any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Thornton Heath with the purpose of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Thornton Heath can be avoided if you appoint lawyers as soon as you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• Many freeholders or managing agents in Thornton Heath levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the actual amount of the charges. The management pack sought as soon as you have a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common reason for frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Thornton Heath.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s approval? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Thornton Heath leases often stipulate that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence issued by the Landlord consenting to such works. Should you fail to have the paperwork in place you should not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the Management Company, you should make sure that you have the original share document. Obtaining a new share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Thornton Heath conveyancing deal. Where a duplicate share certificate is necessary, you should approach the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this sooner rather than later.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years left on your lease but you should double-check by asking your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will not be happy to advise their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the remaining number of years is less than 80 years. It is therefore important at an early stage that you consider whether the lease requires a lease extension. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

I have tried to negotiate informally with with my landlord to extend my lease without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal decide on such matters? Can you recommend a Thornton Heath conveyancing firm to represent me?

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or where there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the LVT to arrive at the amount due.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Thornton Heath flat is Ground Floor Flat 14 Lodge Road in October 2013. the tribunal held that the price payable for the acquisition of the extended lease of the property should be £12,590 .00 This case related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 69.46 years.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Thornton Heath what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Thornton Heath. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain provisions are erroneous. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the building
• Insurance obligations
• 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 could 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. Barclays , Chelsea Building Society, and Nottingham Building Society all have very detailed requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. If a mortgage lender believes that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

Thornton Heath Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Queries before buying

Can you inform me if there are any major works in the planning that will add a premium to the service charges? You should be aware that where the lease has no more than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the salability of the apartment. It is worth checking with your mortgage company that they are happy with remaining years on the lease. Leases with fewer than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely have to extend the lease at some point and it is worth discovering what this will be. For most Thornton Heathlease extensions you would be required to have owned the premises for 24 months in order to be eligible to carry out a lease extension. Generally speaking the outlay for major works tend not to be wrapped into the maintenance charges, albeit that a few managing agents in Thornton Heath ask leaseholders to contribute towards a sinking fund and this is used to offset against major works.