Having checked my lease I have discovered that there are only Fifty years remaining on my lease in Chellaston. I now wish to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

If you qualify, 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 granted an extra 90 years by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the landlord. For most situations a specialist would be helpful to conduct investigations and prepare a report to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a conveyancer in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Chellaston.

Due to complete next month on a basement flat in Chellaston. Conveyancing lawyers inform me that they will have a report out to me next week. What should I be looking out for?

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

• Details of the parties to the lease, for example these could be the leaseholder (you), head lessor, landlord

I am attracted to a two apartments in Chellaston which have approximately fifty years remaining on the lease term. should I be concerned?

There are no two ways about it. A leasehold flat in Chellaston is a deteriorating asset as a result of the reducing lease term. The nearer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it adversely affects the value of the property. The majority of buyers and mortgage companies, leases with under 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 Chellaston conveyancing experts who will explain the options available to you during an initial telephone conversation free of charge. More often than not it is possible to negotiate informally with the freeholder to extend the lease They may agree to a smaller lump sum and an increase in the ground rent, but to shorter extension terms in return. You need to ensure that the agreed 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.

I am a negotiator for a long established estate agent office in Chellaston where we have experienced a number of leasehold sales put at risk due to short leases. I have received conflicting advice from local Chellaston conveyancing solicitors. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can initiate the lease extension process for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to start the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. This means that the proposed purchaser need not have to sit tight for 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed before, or at the same time as completion of the sale.

An alternative approach is to agree the lease extension with the freeholder 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 purchaser.

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

When appointing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Chellaston conveyancing practice) 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 two or three firms including non Chellaston conveyancing practices prior to instructing a firm. Where the conveyancing practice is ALEP accredited then that’s a bonus. Some following of questions could be helpful:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

I invested in buying a ground floor flat in Chellaston, conveyancing formalities finalised half a dozen years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Comparable flats in Chellaston with over 90 years remaining are worth £248,000. The ground rent is £60 yearly. The lease ends on 21st October 2097

You have 74 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to be between £11,400 and £13,200 plus professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure in the absence of comprehensive due diligence. Do not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be additional issues 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 placing reliance on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Chellaston