There are only Fifty years left on my flat in Tokyngton. I now wish to get lease extension but my landlord 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 apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent should be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Tokyngton.

I've found a house that appears to be perfect, at a great price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just been informed that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues buying a leasehold house in Tokyngton. Conveyancing lawyers have are soon to be appointed. Will they explain the issues?

Most houses in Tokyngton are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Tokyngton in which case you should be looking for a Tokyngton conveyancing practitioner and be sure that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a lessee you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as obtaining the landlord’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your conveyancer will appraise you on the various issues.

I am a negotiator for a busy estate agent office in Tokyngton where we see a number of flat sales put at risk as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have received conflicting advice from local Tokyngton conveyancing solicitors. Please can you clarify whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the buyer.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Tokyngton conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Tokyngton conveyancing practice) it is essential that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Tokyngton 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:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then what is the reason?
• What volume of lease extensions have they conducted in Tokyngton in the last year?

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Tokyngton with the aim of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Tokyngton can be reduced if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to collate the leasehold documentation needed by the buyers conveyancers.
• The majority freeholders or managing agents in Tokyngton charge for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should find out the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most common cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Tokyngton.
• Some Tokyngton leases require Landlord’s consent to the sale and approval of the buyers. If this applies to your lease, it would be prudent to notify your estate agents 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 yearly 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 purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you hold a share in a the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a replacement share certificate can be a time consuming process and frustrates many a Tokyngton conveyancing deal. If a reissued share certificate is required, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (if applicable) for this as soon as possible.
• You believe that you know the number of years left on your lease but it would be wise to double-check via your lawyers. A buyer’s conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to where the remaining number of years is less than 75 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your property on the market for sale.

After months of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Tokyngton. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Tokyngton conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Tokyngton property is Ground Floor Flat 79 London Road in September 2012. the Tribunal held that the premium payable for the lease extension should be £7,636 This case was in relation to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 74 years.

Tokyngton Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

You should be aware if it is less than 80 years it will have adverse implications on the marketability of the property. It is worth checking with your bank that they are willing to to proceed given the lease term. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will almost definitely require a lease extension at some point and you need to have some idea of what this would cost. For most Tokyngtonlease extensions you would need to own the residence for two years before you are eligible to extend the lease.