I only have 72 years unexpired on my lease in Cotham. I am keen to get lease extension but my freeholder is missing. What should I do?

On the basis that you qualify, under the Leasehold Reform, Housing and Urban Development Act 1993 you can submit an application to the County Court for an order to dispense with the service of the initial notice. This will mean that your lease can be lengthened by the magistrate. However, you will be required to demonstrate that you have done all that could be expected to track down the lessor. For most situations a specialist should be useful to conduct investigations and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord is indeed missing. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s disappearance and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Cotham.

I have just started marketing my garden flat in Cotham.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just received a yearly service charge demand – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is discharge the invoice 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.

I own a leasehold house in Cotham. Conveyancing and The Mortgage Works mortgage are in place. A letter has just been received from someone saying they have taken over the freehold. Attached was a demand for arrears of ground rent dating back to 1991. The conveyancing solicitor in Cotham who previously acted has now retired.Any advice?

First make enquiries of HMLR to be sure that the individual purporting to own the freehold is indeed the registered owner of the freehold reversion. There is no need to incur the fees of a Cotham conveyancing firm to do this as it can be done on-line for a few pound. You should note that regardless, even if this is the legitimate freeholder, under the Limitation Act 1980 no more than 6 years of rent can be collected.

I am attracted to a two apartments in Cotham which have in the region of fifty years left on the leases. should I be concerned?

There is no doubt about it. A leasehold flat in Cotham is a deteriorating asset as a result of the shortening lease. The closer the lease gets to its expiry date, the more it reduces the marketability of the premises. The majority of buyers and banks, leases with less than eighty years become less and less attractive. 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 a residence 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 Cotham 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 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 work for a long established estate agency in Cotham where we have witnessed a few leasehold sales derailed due to short leases. I have received inconsistent advice from local Cotham conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can instigate 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 commence the lease extension process and assign the benefit of the notice to the purchaser. The benefit of this is that the proposed purchaser can avoid having to wait 2 years to extend their lease. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment needs to be completed prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the sale.

Alternatively, it may be possible 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.

I own a basement flat in Cotham, conveyancing formalities finalised 2012. Can you shed any light on how much the price could be for a 90 year extension to my lease? Corresponding properties in Cotham with a long lease are worth £240,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £60 per annum. The lease comes to an end on 21st October 2082

With just 57 years left to run we estimate the price of your lease extension to range between £26,600 and £30,800 plus plus your own and the landlord's "reasonable" professional fees.

The suggested premium range above a general guide to costs for extending a lease, but we are not able to supply the actual costs in the absence of detailed due diligence. You should not use this information in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There may be other issues that need to be taken into account and you obviously should be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. Please do not move forward based on this information without first seeking the advice of a professional.

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Lease Extensions in Cotham