Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my lease in Belgravia. I now want to extend my lease but my landlord is absent. What options are available to me?

If 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 used your best endeavours to track down the landlord. For most situations an enquiry agent should be useful to carry out a search and to produce a report to be used as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer both on investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court covering Belgravia.

I've found a house that appears to be perfect, at a great figure which is making it all the more appealing. I have just been informed that the title is leasehold rather than freehold. I am assuming that there are issues buying a house with a leasehold title in Belgravia. Conveyancing advisers have are about to be instructed. Will they explain the issues?

The majority of houses in Belgravia are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local solicitor used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. It is clear that you are buying in Belgravia so you should seriously consider shopping around for a Belgravia conveyancing solicitor and be sure that they are used to dealing with leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a tenant you will not be at liberty to do whatever you want with the house. The lease comes with conditions such as requiring the landlord’sconsent to carry out alterations. You may also be required to pay a maintenance charge towards the maintenance of the communal areas where the house is part of an estate. Your conveyancer should report to you on the legal implications.

Back In 2000, I bought a leasehold flat in Belgravia. Conveyancing and HSBC Bank mortgage organised. I have received a letter from someone claiming to own the reversionary interest in the property. It included a ground rent demand for rent dating back to 1995. The conveyancing practitioner in Belgravia who acted for me is not around.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of the Land Registry to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Belgravia conveyancing solicitor to do this as you can do this on the Land Registry website 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.

What are your top tips when it comes to choosing a Belgravia conveyancing firm to deal with our lease extension?

If you are instructing a property lawyer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Belgravia conveyancing firm) it is most important that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We suggested that you make enquires with several firms including non Belgravia 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 helpful:

• If the firm is not ALEP accredited then why not?
• What are the costs for lease extension work?

All being well we will complete our sale of a £ 175000 maisonette in Belgravia next Monday . The managing agents has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Certificate of Compliance, insurance certificate and previous years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a leasehold conveyance in Belgravia?

Belgravia conveyancing on leasehold flats often requires the buyer’s lawyer sending questions for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to such questions most will be willing to do so. They are entitled charge a reasonable charge for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the information that you are referring to is £350, in some situations it is in excess of £800. The administration charge levied by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of entitlements and obligations in respect of administration charges, without which the charge is not strictly payable. Reality however dictates that you have no choice but to pay whatever is requested of you if you want to exchange contracts with the buyer.

Notwithstanding our best endeavours, we have been unsuccessful in trying to purchase the freehold in Belgravia. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

in cases where there is a absentee freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the relevant statutes it is possible to make an application to the First-tier Tribunal (Property Chamber) to make a decision on the premium.

An example of a Lease Extension matter before the tribunal for a Belgravia premises is Flat 3 47 Cadogan Square in December 2010. the Tribunal determined that the premium payable to the landord by the leaseholder for the lease extension was £732,935 This case affected 1 flat. The remaining number of years on the lease was 13.33 years.

Belgravia Conveyancing for Leasehold Flats - A selection of Questions you should ask before buying

Does the lease contain onerous restrictions? Many Belgravia leasehold properties will incur a service bill for maintenance of the block levied by the landlord. Should you buy the flat you will have to pay this amount, usually in instalments throughout the year. This could differ from a couple of hundred pounds to thousands of pounds for blocks with lifts and large communal grounds. There will also be a ground rent to be met yearly, this is usually not a exorbitant figure, say approximately £25-£75 but you need to enquire as occasionally it can be surprisingly expensive.