I have recently realised that I have 62 years unexpired on my flat in Victoria Docks. I am keen to extend my lease but my landlord is can not be found. What are my options?

On the basis that you qualify, 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 magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a solicitor both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Victoria Docks.

I’m about to sell my basement flat in Victoria Docks.Conveyancing is yet to be initiated but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should discharge 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.

Back In 2004, I bought a leasehold flat in Victoria Docks. Conveyancing and Coventry Building Society mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing solicitor in Victoria Docks who previously acted has now retired.What should I do?

First make enquiries of the Land Registry to make sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to instruct a Victoria Docks conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for £3. You should note that regardless, even if this is the rightful freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agency in Victoria Docks where we have experienced a few leasehold sales put at risk due to leases having less than 80 years remaining. I have been given inconsistent advice from local Victoria Docks conveyancing firms. Please can you confirm whether the owner of a flat can start the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has been the owner for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder either before or after the sale. If you are informally negotiating there are no rules and so you cannot insist on the landlord agreeing to grant an extension or transferring the benefit of an agreement to the purchaser.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £ 300000 flat in Victoria Docks in just under a week. The management company has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge such fees for a flat conveyance in Victoria Docks?

Victoria Docks conveyancing on leasehold apartments usually necessitates the buyer’s solicitor submitting questions for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries the majority will be content to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable charge for answering enquiries or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is in excess of £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be accompanied by a synopsis of entitlements and obligations in relation to administration charges, without which the invoice is technically not due. Reality however dictates that you have no option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

I am the leaseholder of a garden flat in Victoria Docks. In the absence of agreement between myself and the freeholder, can the Leasehold valuation Tribunal determine the amount due for the purchase of the freehold?

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about the premium for a lease extension, under the relevant legislation you can apply to the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal to judgment on the price payable.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Victoria Docks flat 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 affected 1 flat. The the unexpired residue of the current lease was 69.77 years.

Victoria Docks Leasehold Conveyancing - Examples of Queries before Purchasing

Generally speaking the outlay for major works are not wrapped into the service charges, albeit that there some managing agents in Victoria Docks require leasehold owners to contribute towards a sinking fund created for the specific purpose of establishing a fund for major repairs or maintenance.