There are only Seventy years remaining on my flat in West Harrow. I need to get lease extension but my landlord 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the freeholder. On the whole a specialist would be helpful to carry out a search and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing West Harrow.

You should [be sent a copy of the lease|receive a copy of the lease]

Due to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in West Harrow. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• Whether the lease restricts you from letting out the property, or working from home
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this will change in the future
• Whether your lease has a provision for a sinking fund?
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• 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
• Responsibility for repairing the window frames

For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in West Harrow please ask your lawyer in ahead of your conveyancing in West Harrow

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my ground floor apartment in West Harrow.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should 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 managing agents 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in West Harrow. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before 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. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element 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).

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the disposal of our £ 500000 apartment in West Harrow in just under a week. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in West Harrow?

For most leasehold sales in West Harrow conveyancing will involve, queries regarding the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Answering pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in West Harrow
• Supplying insurance information
• 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 West Harrow leasehold premises is £350. For West Harrow 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 provide the information.

I have given up trying to purchase the freehold in West Harrow. Can this matter be resolved via the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal?

if there is a missing landlord or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a West Harrow residence is flat 93b Welldon Crescent in May 2009. The Tribunals valuation for a 90-year lease extension of this fat was £13,171 This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 75.25 years.

West Harrow Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Examples of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

Where a West Harrow lease has fewer than eighty years it will have adverse implications on the value of the apartment. Check with your lender that they are content with residual term of the lease. Leases with less than 80 years remaining means that you will most likely need a lease extension at some point and it is worth discovering what this will be. Remember, in most cases you will be required to have been the owner of the premises for 24 months in order to be entitled to extend the lease. Who manages the building?