There are only Sixty One years left on my lease in St James. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

If 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 magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to find the landlord. On the whole a specialist may be helpful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer both on proving the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing St James.

Due to complete next month on a studio apartment in St James. Conveyancing solicitors inform me that they are sending me a report on Monday. Are there areas in the report that I should be focusing on?

Your report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in St James should include some of the following:

• How long the lease is You should be advised as what happens when the lease ends, and aware of the importance of not letting the lease term falling below eighty years
• The physical extent of the demise. This will be the flat itself but may incorporate a loft or basement if applicable.
• Setting out your legal entitlements in respect of the communal areas in the block.By way of example, does the lease include a right of way over a path or staircase?
• Are you allowed to have a pet in the flat?
• Ground rent - how much and when you need to pay, and also know whether this is subject to change
• You should have a good understanding of the insurance provisions
• What the implications are if you breach a clause of your lease?

I have just appointed agents to market my 2 bed flat in St James.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is 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 management companies 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.

I am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have since discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in St James. Conveyancing solicitors have not yet been instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in St James are freehold rather than leasehold. In this scenario it’s worth having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can help the conveyancing process. it is apparent that you are buying in St James in which case you should be shopping around for a St James conveyancing solicitor and check that they have experience in dealing with leasehold houses. First you will need to check the number of years remaining. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want with the house. The lease will likely included provisions such as requiring the freeholder’sconsent to carry out changes to the property. You may also be required to pay a service charge towards the upkeep of the communal areas where the property is part of an estate. Your conveyancer will advise you fully on all the issues.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold house in St James. Conveyancing and Chelsea Building Society mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1992. The conveyancing practitioner in St James who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

First contact HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the registered owner of the freehold reversion. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a St James conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for less than a fiver. Rest assured that in any event, even if this is the rightful landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

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

Absolutely. We are happy to put you in touch with a St James conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a St James residence is Flats 12A & 19, Evelyn Mansions Carlisle Place in June 2009. The Tribunal held that the price to be paid for the new lease of Flat 12A is £168,824, For the other flat the price was set at £169,110 This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired lease term was 56 years.

Leasehold Conveyancing in St James - A selection of Questions you should ask Prior to Purchasing

Is the freehold reversion owned collectively by the leaseholders?