I only have Seventy years left on my flat in Woolwich. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What options are available to me?

On the basis that 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 for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will enable the lease to be lengthened by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you have used your best endeavours to track down the freeholder. For most situations a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court 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 overseeing Woolwich.

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

Planning to sign contracts shortly on a leasehold property in Woolwich. Conveyancing solicitors assured me that they report fully next week. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

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

• The unexpired lease term You should be advised as what happens when the lease expires, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• Setting out your rights in respect of the communal areas in the block.For example, does the lease grant a right of way over an accessway or hallways?
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• Repair and maintenance of the flat
• Changes to the flat (alterations and additions)
• The landlord’s rights to access the flat you be made aware that your landlord has rights of access and I know how much notice s/he must provide.

For a comprehensive list of information to be contained in your report on your leasehold property in Woolwich please ask your solicitor in advance of your conveyancing in Woolwich

I've recently bought a leasehold flat in Woolwich. Do I have any liability for service charges for periods before completion of my purchase?

Where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner 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. 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).

We expect to complete the sale of our £ 375000 apartment in Woolwich in six days. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Woolwich?

Woolwich conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes normally involves fees being raised by managing agents :

• Addressing conveyancing due diligence questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Woolwich
• 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 Woolwich leasehold property is £350. For Woolwich 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 the information.

I inherited a two-bedroom flat in Woolwich. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the sum payable for the purchase of the freehold?

in cases where there is a missing freeholder or where there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation it is possible to make an application to the LVT to decide the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Woolwich property is 46 Credon Road in January 2014. On 11 September 2013 Deputy District Judge Price sitting at the Bow County Court made a vesting order that the freeholder surrender his lease and be granted a new lease of the Premises on such terms as may be determined by the First Tier Tribunal (Property Chamber).The appropriate sum as concluded by the Tribunal was £7225 This case related to 1 flat. The the unexpired term as at the valuation date was 69.77 years.

When it comes to leasehold conveyancing in Woolwich what are the most common lease problems?

There is nothing unique about leasehold conveyancing in Woolwich. Most leases are unique and drafting errors can result in certain provisions are erroneous. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain elements of the building
• Insurance obligations
• A provision for the recovery of money spent for the benefit of another party.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease can cause issues when trying to sell a property as they can affect a potential buyer’s ability to obtain a mortgage. Santander, Leeds Building Society, and Godiva Mortgages Ltd all have very detailed conveyancing instructions when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to grant the mortgage, obliging the purchaser to pull out.

I invested in buying a garden flat in Woolwich, conveyancing having been completed in 2012. How much will my lease extension cost? Equivalent properties in Woolwich with over 90 years remaining are worth £208,000. The ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2081

With only 55 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £26,600 and £30,800 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in tribunal or court proceedings. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be considered and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Neither should you move forward based on this information before seeking the advice of a professional.