Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only 68 years unexpired on my lease in Warfield. I now wish to get lease extension 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 apply to the County Court for for permission to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to try and locate and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Warfield.

I’m about to sell my basement flat in Warfield.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just had a yearly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

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 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.

My wife and I purchased a leasehold flat in Warfield. Conveyancing and Bank of Ireland mortgage went though with no issue. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. Attached was a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing solicitor in Warfield who acted for me is not around.Any advice?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is in fact the new freeholder. There is no need to incur the fees of a Warfield conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website for £3. You should note that in any event, even if this is the legitimate landlord, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Warfield with the intention of expediting the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Warfield can be reduced if you appoint lawyers as soon as your agents start marketing the property and request that they start to put together the leasehold information which will be required by the purchasers’ solicitors.
• The majority freeholders or Management Companies in Warfield charge for providing management packs for a leasehold property. You or your lawyers should enquire as to the fee that they propose to charge. The management pack can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus accelerating the process. The average time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Warfield.
• If you have carried out any alterations to the residence would they have required Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example installed wooden flooring? Most leases in Warfield state that internal structural alterations or laying down wooden flooring necessitate a licence from the Landlord consenting to such changes. Should you dont have the consents in place do not contact the landlord without contacting your lawyer first.
• If you have had conflict with your freeholder or managing agents it is very important that these are resolved before the property is marketed. The purchasers and their solicitors will be reluctant to purchase a flat where there is an ongoing dispute. You may have to bite the bullet and pay any arrears of service charge or resolve the dispute prior to completion of the sale. It is therefore preferable to have any dispute settled ahead of the contract papers being issued to the buyers’ solicitors. You are still duty bound to disclose particulars of the dispute to the purchasers, but it is clearly preferable to reveal the dispute as historic rather than unresolved.
• If you are supposed to have a share in the freehold, you should ensure that you hold the original share certificate. Organising a replacement share certificate is often a time consuming formality and frustrates many a Warfield home move. If a duplicate share certificate is needed, do contact the company officers or managing agents (if relevant) for this as soon as possible.

If all goes to plan we aim to complete the sale of our £ 375000 maisonette in Warfield next Wednesday . The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Warfield?

Warfield conveyancing on leasehold maisonettes typically results in administration charges raised by managing agents :

• Answering conveyancing due diligence enquiries
• Where consent is required before sale in Warfield
• Supplying insurance information
• Deeds of covenant upon sale
• Registering of the assignment of the change of lessee after a sale

Your solicitor will have no control over the level of the charges for this information but the average costs for the information for Warfield leasehold premises is £350. For Warfield 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 the information.

I inherited a ground floor flat in Warfield, conveyancing having been completed 2002. Can you let me have an estimated range of the fair premium for a lease extension? Corresponding properties in Warfield with an extended lease are worth £168,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 invoiced annually. The lease terminates on 21st October 2106

With just 80 years remaining on your lease we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £10,500 and £12,000 as well as professional fees.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide the actual costs without more comprehensive investigations. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first getting professional advice.