Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Wembley. Before I set the wheels in motion I would like to find out the remaining lease term.

Assuming the lease is recorded at the land registry - and 99.9% are in Wembley - then the leasehold title will always include the basic details of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

I only have 68 years remaining on my lease in Wembley. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have made all reasonable attempts to locate the freeholder. On the whole an enquiry agent should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce a report which can be used as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a property lawyer both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Wembley.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Wembley. Conveyancing and Barclays Direct mortgage went though with no issue. I have received a letter from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing practitioner in Wembley who acted for me is not around.What should I do?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to instruct a Wembley conveyancing solicitor to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am employed by a long established estate agency in Wembley where we have witnessed a few flat sales jeopardised as a result of short leases. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Wembley conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the buyer?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 need not have to wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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 finding a Wembley conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Wembley conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you talk with several firms including non Wembley conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be of use:

• What volume of lease extensions have they conducted in Wembley in the last 12 months?
• Can they put you in touch with client in Wembley who can give a testimonial?

Following years of correspondence we simply can't agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Wembley. Does the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal have jurisdiction to calculate the appropriate figures?

if there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to determine the price.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Wembley flat 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 affected 1 flat. The unexpired term was 74 years.

Wembley Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask before Purchasing

Make sure you investigate if the the lease includes any adverse restrictions in the lease. For instance some leases prohibit pets being allowed in certain buildings in Wembley. If you love the flatin Wembley however your cat can’t move with you then you have a very difficult choice. How many of the leaseholders are in arrears for their maintenance charge payments?