Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 68 years left on my flat in Maida Hill. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 enable the lease to be extended by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. On the whole a specialist may be useful to try and locate 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 investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Maida Hill.

I’m about to sell my basement flat in Maida Hill.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just received a quarterly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

It best that you pay the invoice 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 unless 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Maida Hill conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Maida Hill conveyancing firm) it is most important that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Maida Hill conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions might be of use:

• How many lease extensions has the firm carried out in Maida Hill in the last 12 months?
• What are the legal fees for lease extension conveyancing?

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Maida Hill from the point of view of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the delay in leasehold conveyancing in Maida Hill can be reduced where you instruct lawyers the minute you market your property and ask them to collate the leasehold documentation which will be required by the buyers lawyers.
• Many landlords or Management Companies in Maida Hill levy fees for providing management packs for a leasehold premises. You or your lawyers should discover the actual amount of the charges. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The average time it takes to obtain the necessary information is three weeks. It is the most usual reason for delay in leasehold conveyancing in Maida Hill.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s consent? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Maida Hill state that internal structural alterations or installing wooden flooring require a licence from the Landlord consenting to such alterations. If you fail to have the paperwork in place you should not communicate with the landlord without contacting your solicitor in advance.
• Some Maida Hill leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this applies to your lease, you should notify your estate agents to make sure that the purchasers obtain bank and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is financially capable of paying the annual service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their lawyers.
• If you have the benefit of shareholding in the freehold, you should make sure that you hold the original share certificate. Obtaining a replacement share certificate is often a lengthy formality and frustrates many a Maida Hill conveyancing transaction. Where a reissued share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.

Completion in due on our sale of a £ 425000 maisonette in Maida Hill next week. The landlords agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Maida Hill?

Maida Hill conveyancing on leasehold flats ordinarily results in administration charges raised by landlords agents :

• Completing pre-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Maida Hill
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your lawyer will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Maida Hill leasehold premises is £350. For Maida Hill 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 attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord for a lease extension without any joy. Can a leaseholder make an application to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal? Can you recommend a Maida Hill conveyancing firm to act on my behalf?

if there is a absentee landlord or if there is dispute about the premium for a lease extension, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to determine the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Maida Hill residence is Flat 1 57 Oxford Gardens in January 2014. the Tribunal decided that the premium to be paidfor a new lease is £61,650.00. This case related to 1 flat. The unexpired lease term was 60 years.

Maida Hill Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - Sample of Questions you should consider before buying

Many Maida Hill leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service charge for the upkeep of the block invoiced on behalf of the landlord. Where you buy the flat you will have to pay this liability, normally quarterly during the year. This could differ from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for buildings with lifts and large common areas. In all likelihood there will be a ground rent to be met annual, ordinarily this is not a exorbitant figure, say about £50-£100 but you should to enquire as occasionally it can be surprisingly expensive. It would be prudent to find out as much as you can about the managing agents as they can either make your living at the property much easier or much more difficult. Being a leasehold owner you will be at the mercy of the managing agents from a financial perspective and when it comes to day to day matters like the cleanliness of the communal areas. Ask other people what they think of their service. Finally, investigate as to the dates that the maintenance charges are due to the managing agents and precisely how they are spending that money.