There are only Fifty years unexpired on my flat in North West London. I am keen to extend my lease 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 apply to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be extended by the Court. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and to produce a report which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer both on devolving into the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing North West London.

I have just appointed agents to market my ground floor flat in North West London.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – Do I pay up?

It best that you pay 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.

I own a leasehold flat in North West London. Conveyancing and Halifax mortgage organised. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the reversionary interest in the property. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1996. The conveyancing practitioner in North West London who previously acted has now retired.Do I pay?

First make enquiries of HMLR to make sure that the individual claiming to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to instruct a North West London conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. Rest assured that regardless, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am looking at a couple of apartments in North West London both have about fifty years unexpired on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a prescribed time frame. As a lease gets shorter the marketability of the lease reduces and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is generally wise to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease because mortgage companies may be unwilling to lend money on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We advise that you seek professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Completion in due on our sale of a £200000 apartment in North West London next week. The freeholder has quoted £348 for Landlord’s certificate, insurance certificate and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in North West London?

For the majority of leasehold sales in North West London 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-contract enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in North West London
• 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 North West London leasehold property is £350. For North West London 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 supply answers.

North West London Leasehold Conveyancing - A selection of Questions you should consider Prior to buying

The majority of North West London leasehold properties will be liable to pay a service bill for the upkeep of the block invoiced on behalf of the management company. If you buy the apartment you will have to meet this amount, usually quarterly throughout the year. This could vary from several hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for large purpose-built blocks. There will also be a rentcharge to be met annual, this is usually not a large sum, say around £50-£100 but you need to check it because on occasion it can be many hundreds of pounds. How much is the ground rent and service charge? For many North West London leaseholds the outlay for major works tend not to be incorporated into the service charges, although there some managing agents in North West London obliged leaseholders to pay into a sinking fund created for the specific purpose of establishing a fund for major works.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in North West London