Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Sixty One years left on my flat in Walworth. I need to get lease extension but my landlord 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 an order 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. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to locate the freeholder. On the whole a specialist may be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report to be accepted by the court as proof that the freeholder 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 Walworth.

Last month I purchased a leasehold house in Walworth. Am I liable to pay service charges relating to a period prior to completion of my purchase?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous lessee and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. However, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. It is an essential part of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I work for a reputable estate agency in Walworth where we have witnessed a number of leasehold sales derailed as a result of leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given contradictory information from local Walworth conveyancing firms. Can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

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. This means that the buyer can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. 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.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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 purchaser.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to appointing a Walworth conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Walworth conveyancing firm) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you speak with two or three firms including non Walworth conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?
• What are the costs for lease extension conveyancing?

We expect to complete the disposal of our £ 150000 flat in Walworth next week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Walworth?

Walworth conveyancing on leasehold flats normally necessitates fees being raised by managing agents :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Walworth
• 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 solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Walworth leasehold property is £350. For Walworth 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 supply answers.

Following months of dialogue we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Walworth. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

Absolutely. We can put you in touch with a Walworth conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement case for a Walworth premises is 28 Valmar Road in June 2013. this was a case with an absentee freeholder. As a result the leaseholders applied to the Lambeth County Court for an order dispensing with the giving of a notice of claim. On 25 April 2013 District Judge Zimmels made a vesting order and directed that the matter should be transferred to this tribunal to determine the premium. The tribunal concluded on a fi
gure of £1,125 This case related to 3 flats. The unexpired lease term was 968 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Walworth - Examples of Questions you should consider Prior to Purchasing

Its a good idea to discover as much as possible about the managing agents as they can either make your living at the property much easier or uncomfortable. As the proprietor of a leasehold property you are frequently at the mercy of the managing agents both financially and when it comes to day to day issues like the cleanliness of the communal areas. Don't be shy to ask other people if they are happy with their service. In conclusion, find out the dates that the service fees are due to the appropriate party and specifically what you get for your money. How much is the annual service fee and ground rent?