I have recently realised that I have Fifty years unexpired on my flat in Battle. I now want to get lease extension but my landlord is can not be found. What options are available to me?

On the basis that 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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have done all that could be expected to locate the lessor. For most situations an enquiry agent may be useful to try and locate and to produce an expert document to be accepted by the court as proof that the landlord can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to devolving into the landlord’s disappearance and the application to the County Court overseeing Battle.

I am attracted to a couple of flats in Battle both have approximately forty five years remaining on the lease term. Will this present a problem?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold apartment in Battle is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the salability of the property. The majority of buyers and mortgage companies, leases with less than eighty years become less and less marketable. On a more upbeat note, leaseholders can extend their leases by serving a Section 42 Notice. One stipulation is that they must have owned the property for two years (unlike a Section 13 notice for purchasing the freehold, when leaseholders can participate from day one of ownership). When successful, they will have the right to an extension of 90 years to the current term and ground rent is effectively reduced to zero. Before moving forward with a purchase of premises with a short lease term remaining you should talk to a solicitor specialising in lease extensions and leasehold enfranchisement. We are are happy to put you in touch with Battle conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. A more straightforward and quicker method of extending would be to contact your landlord directly and sound him out on the prospect of extending the lease You may find he or she is happy to negotiate informally and willing to consider your offer straight off, without having to involve anyone else. This will save you time and money and it could help you reach a lower price on the lease. You need to ensure that any new terms represent good long-term value compared with the standard benefits of the Section 42 Notice and that onerous clauses are not inserted into any redrafting of the lease.

What advice can you give us when it comes to choosing a Battle conveyancing practice to deal with our lease extension?

When appointing a solicitor for lease extension works (regardless if they are a Battle conveyancing practice) it is essential that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of conveyancing. We recommend that you make enquires with two or three firms including non Battle conveyancing practices before you instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then so much the better. Some following of questions could be useful:

• If they are not ALEP accredited then why not?

Do you have any top tips for leasehold conveyancing in Battle from the perspective of expediting the sale process?

• A significant proportion of the frustration in leasehold conveyancing in Battle can be reduced if you get in touch lawyers as soon as your agents start advertising the property and ask them to put together the leasehold documentation needed by the purchasers’ conveyancers.
• The majority landlords or managing agents in Battle levy fees for supplying management packs for a leasehold homes. You or your lawyers should discover the fee that they propose to charge. The management information can be applied for on or before finding a buyer, thus reducing delays. The typical amount of time it takes to receive management information is three weeks. It is the most frequent cause of delay in leasehold conveyancing in Battle.

All being well we will complete our sale of a £200000 garden flat in Battle next week. The management company has quoted £420 for Landlord’s certificate, building insurance schedule and 3 years statements of service charge. Is the landlord entitled to charge such fees for a leasehold conveyance in Battle?

Battle conveyancing on leasehold apartments more often than not necessitates the buyer’s conveyancer submitting enquiries for the landlord to address. Although the landlord is not legally bound to respond to these enquiries most will be content to assist. They are entitled charge a reasonable administration fee for responding to questions or supplying documentation. There is no set fee. The average costs for the paperwork that you are referring to is over three hundred pounds, in some situations it exceeds £800. The management information fee demanded by the landlord must be sent together with a summary of rights and obligations in respect of administration fees, without which the charge is not strictly payable. In reality one has little option but to pay whatever is demanded if you want to complete the sale of your home.

I inherited a garden flat in Battle, conveyancing was carried out 2000. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Similar properties in Battle with a long lease are worth £220,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £50 invoiced every year. The lease ceases on 21st October 2084

With 59 years left to run the likely cost is going to range between £27,600 and £31,800 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we cannot give you the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. Do not use the figures in tribunal or court proceedings. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not move forward based on this information before getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Battle