There are only Sixty One years remaining on my flat in Wallington. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What are my options?

If 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 mean that your lease can be lengthened 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 an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder is indeed missing. 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 overseeing Wallington.

I’m about to sell my ground floor apartment in Wallington.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – should I leave it to the buyer to sort out?

The sensible thing to do is pay 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.

I today plan to offer on a house that seems to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have just found out that it's a leasehold as opposed to freehold. I would have thought that there are particular concerns buying a house with a leasehold title in Wallington. Conveyancing advisers have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Wallington are freehold and not leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer who is familiar with the area can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are buying in Wallington so you should seriously consider looking for a Wallington conveyancing solicitor and check that they are used to transacting on leasehold houses. First you will need to check the unexpired lease term. Being a leaseholder you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’spermission to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a contribution towards the maintenance of the estate where the property is located on an estate. Your solicitor will appraise you on the various issues.

I am looking at a couple of apartments in Wallington both have in the region of forty five years left on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There are plenty of short leases in Wallington. The lease is a right to use the property for a period of time. As the lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and results in it becoming more costly to extend the lease. This is why it is often a good idea to increase the term of the lease. It is often difficult to sell a property with a short lease because mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on such properties. Lease extension can be a difficult process. We recommend you seek professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this area

Our conveyancer has advised that he intends to complete and exchange simultaneously on the disposal of our £ 475000 maisonette in Wallington next week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, 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 Wallington?

Wallington conveyancing on leasehold flats normally involves fees being raised by managing agents :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Wallington
• 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 Wallington leasehold property is £350. For Wallington 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 supply the information.

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

Most certainly. We can put you in touch with a Wallington conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement matter before the tribunal for a Wallington flat is 21 & 23 Carshalton Grove in May 2009. the Tribunal adopted the figures presented as the premiums payable by the Applicant i.e. a total of £20,750. This case was in relation to 2 flats. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 72 years.

Wallington Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Questions you should ask before buying

Who manages the building? Is the freehold owned jointly by the tenants? This information is helpful as a) areas may result in problems in the building as the common areas may begin to deteriorate where services are not paid for b) if the leaseholders have an issue with the running of the building you will want to have all the details