I have recently realised that I have Fifty years remaining on my flat in Plaistow. I need to extend my lease but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

If 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 enable the lease to be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to locate the landlord. In some cases an enquiry agent should be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare an expert document which can be used as proof that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a property lawyer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Plaistow.

I have just appointed agents to market my garden flat in Plaistow.Conveyancing has not commenced but I have just received a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – Do I pay up?

The sensible thing to do is 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. Having a clear account will assist your cause and will leave you no worse off financially.

Back In 2003, I bought a leasehold flat in Plaistow. Conveyancing and Clydesdale mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone claiming to own the freehold. It included a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1994. The conveyancing practitioner in Plaistow who previously acted has long since retired.Do I pay?

The first thing you should do is make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that this person is indeed the new freeholder. It is not necessary to incur the fees of a Plaistow conveyancing solicitor 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 freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 the limitation period for recovery of ground rent is six years.

I work for a long established estate agent office in Plaistow where we have experienced a few flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Plaistow conveyancing firms. Please can you clarify whether the seller of a flat can start the lease extension process for the buyer?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to commence 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 wait 2 years for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to extend the lease informally by agreement with the landlord 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 buyer.

Do you have any advice for leasehold conveyancing in Plaistow from the perspective of speeding up the sale process?

• Much of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Plaistow can be bypassed where you appoint lawyers the minute you market your property and request that they start to collate the leasehold information needed by the buyers solicitors.
• In the event that you altered the property did you need the Landlord’s permission? Have you, for example laid down wooden flooring? Most leases in Plaistow state that internal structural changes or addition of wooden flooring calls for a licence from the Landlord approving such alterations. Should you fail to have the consents to hand you should not communicate with the landlord without checking with your conveyancer in advance.
• A minority of Plaistow leases require Licence to Assign from the landlord. If this is the case, you should place the estate agents on notice to make sure that the purchasers put in hand financial (bank) and professional references. Any bank reference should make it clear that the buyer is able to meet the yearly service charge and the actual amount of the service charge should be quoted in the bank’s letter. You will therefore need to provide your estate agents with the actual amount of the service charge so that they can pass this information on to the purchasers or their solicitors.
• If you hold a share in a the Management Company, you should make sure that you hold the original share document. Organising a duplicate share certificate is often a lengthy process and delays many a Plaistow home move. If a reissued share is necessary, do contact the company director and secretary or managing agents (where applicable) for this at the earliest opportunity.
• You may think that you are aware of the number of years remaining on your lease but it would be advisable double-check via your conveyancers. A purchaser's conveyancer will be unlikely to recommend their client to proceed with the purchase of a leasehold property the lease term is less than 80 years. In the circumstances it is important at an early stage that you identify whether the lease for your property needs extending. If it does, contact your solicitors before you put your home on the market for sale.

We have reached the end of our tether in trying to purchase the freehold in Plaistow. Can the Leasehold Valuation Tribunal adjudicate on premiums?

Most certainly. We are happy to put you in touch with a Plaistow conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Lease Extension case for a Plaistow 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.

Leasehold Conveyancing in Plaistow - A selection of Questions you should ask before buying

Does the lease include onerous restrictions?