There are only Sixty One years remaining on my lease in Custom House. I need to extend my lease but my landlord is missing. What options are available to me?

If you qualify, 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 lengthened by the magistrate. You will be obliged to demonstrate that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent would be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document which can be used as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Custom House.

Looking forward to exchange soon on a basement flat in Custom House. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me tomorrow. What should I be looking out for?

The report on title for your leasehold conveyancing in Custom House should include some of the following:

• Do you need to have carpet in the flat or are you allowed wood flooring?

I am tempted by the attractive purchase price for a two maisonettes in Custom House which have in the region of forty five years remaining on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

A lease is a right to use the premises for a period of time. As the lease shortens the marketability of the lease decreases and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is often a good idea to extend the lease term. Sometimes it is difficulties arise selling premises with a short lease as mortgage lenders may be reluctant to lend money on such properties. Lease enfranchisement can be a difficult process. We advise that you get professional assistance from a solicitor and surveyor with experience in this field

Completion in due on the sale of our £500000 maisonette in Custom House on Friday in a week. The landlords agents has quoted £384 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years service charge statements. Is the landlord entitled to charge exorbitant fees for a flat conveyance in Custom House?

Custom House conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not requires the purchaser’s solicitor sending enquiries for the landlord to answer. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries most will be willing to assist. They are entitled invoice a reasonable charge for answering questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average fee for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some transactions it is above £800. The administration charge demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in relation to administration fees, otherwise the invoice is not strictly payable. In reality one has no option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.

I have attempted and failed to negotiate with my landlord to extend my lease without any joy. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on such matters? Can you recommend a Custom House conveyancing firm to assist?

if there is a missing freeholder or if there is disagreement about what the lease extension should cost, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 it is possible to make an application to the LVT to assess the sum to be paid.

An example of a Lease Extension decision for a Custom House 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 related to 1 flat. The the number of years remaining on the existing lease(s) was 69.77 years.

Are there frequently found defects that you come across in leases for Custom House properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Custom House is not unique. Most leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can result in certain clauses are not included. For example, if your lease is missing any of the following, it could be defective:

• A provision to repair to or maintain elements of the property
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Maintenance charge proportions which don’t add up to the correct percentage

You could encounter a problem when selling your property if you have a defective lease primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. Birmingham Midshires, Coventry Building Society, and Britannia all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is problematic they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.