Having had my offer accepted I require leasehold conveyancing in Abridge. Before I set the wheels in motion I require certainty as to the number of years remaining on the lease.

Assuming the lease is registered - and 99.9% are in Abridge - then the leasehold title will always include the short particulars of the lease, namely the date; the term; and the original parties. From a conveyancing perspective such details then enable any prospective buyer and lender to confirm that any lease they are looking at is the one relevant to that title.For any other purpose, such as confirming how long the term was granted for and calculating what is left, then the register should be sufficient on it's own.

Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years unexpired on my lease in Abridge. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is absent. What should I do?

On the basis that you meet the appropriate requirements, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for for permission 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 find the lessor. On the whole an enquiry agent may be helpful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder is indeed missing. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court covering Abridge.

I am looking at a two maisonettes in Abridge both have about 50 years left on the leases. Do I need to be concerned?

There are plenty of short leases in Abridge. The lease is a legal document that entitles you to use the property for a prescribed time frame. As the lease shortens the value of the lease deteriorate and it becomes more costly to extend the lease. For this reason it is advisable to increase the term of the lease. Sometimes it is difficult to sell a property with a short lease as mortgage companies less inclined to grant a loan on properties of this type. Lease extension can be a protracted process. We recommend you get professional assistance from a conveyancer and surveyor with experience in this area

Can you offer any advice when it comes to finding a Abridge conveyancing practice to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

When appointing a property lawyer for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Abridge conveyancing practice) it is imperative that they be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Abridge conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. If the firm is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions might be useful:

• How experienced is the practice with lease extension legislation?
• What volume of lease extensions has the firm conducted in Abridge in the last 12 months?

Completion in due on the sale of our £ 175000 flat in Abridge in nine days. The freeholder has quoted £<Macro 'feeRangeWithVAT'> for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and previous years statements of service charge. Is it legal for a freeholder to charge an administration fee for a leasehold conveyance in Abridge?

For most leasehold sales in Abridge conveyancing will involve, questions about the management of a building inevitably needing to be answered directly by the freeholder or its agent, this includes :

• Addressing pre-exchange questions
• Where consent is required before sale in Abridge
• Copies of the building insurance and schedule
• 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 Abridge leasehold premises is £350. For Abridge 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 required to provide answers.

Following years of negotiations we cannot agree with our landlord on how much the lease extension should cost for our flat in Abridge. Can we issue an application to the Residential Property Tribunal Service?

You certainly can. We can put you in touch with a Abridge conveyancing firm who can help.

An example of a Freehold Enfranchisement decision for a Abridge residence is 201 & 201a St. Barnabas Road in October 2013. The Tribunal decided that the price to be paid by the Applicants for the freehold interest is £20,071. This case affected 2 flats. The unexpired term was 69.26 years.

I bought a ground floor flat in Abridge, conveyancing having been completed 6 years ago. Can you please calculate a probable premium for a statutory lease extension? Similar flats in Abridge with over 90 years remaining are worth £258,000. The ground rent is £65 charged once a year. The lease terminates on 21st October 2082

With 56 years unexpired the likely cost is going to be between £26,600 and £30,800 plus costs.

The figure that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to supply a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt additional concerns that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.