There are only Seventy years unexpired on my lease in Crook. I need to get lease extension but my freeholder is can not be found. What are my options?

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 enable the lease to be granted an extra 90 years by the Court. However, you will be required to prove that you or your lawyers have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. For most situations a specialist should be useful to carry out a search and prepare an expert document to be accepted by the court as evidence that the landlord can not be located. It is advisable to get professional help from a solicitor in relation to proving the landlord’s absence and the vesting order request to the County Court overseeing Crook.

Estate agents have just been given the go-ahead to market my basement flat in Crook.Conveyancing solicitors are to be appointed soon but I have just had a half-yearly maintenance charge demand – what should I do?

Your conveyancing lawyer is likely to suggest that you should clear 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 until 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 am hoping to put an offer on a small detached house that seems to meet my requirements, at a reasonable price which is making it all the more appealing. I have since discovered that it's a leasehold rather than freehold. I would have thought that there are issues purchasing a house with a leasehold title in Crook. Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been appointed. Will my lawyers set out the risks of buying a leasehold house in Crook ?

Most houses in Crook are freehold and not leasehold. This is one of the situations where having a local conveyancer used to dealing with such properties who can assist with the conveyancing process. We note that you are purchasing in Crook so you should seriously consider looking for a Crook conveyancing practitioner and check that they are used to advising on leasehold houses. As a matter of priority you will need to check the unexpired lease term. As a leaseholder you will not be entirely free to do whatever you want to the property. The lease will likely included provisions for example requiring the landlord’spermission to carry out alterations. It may be necessary to pay a contribution towards the upkeep of the estate where the house is located on an estate. Your lawyer will report to you on the legal implications.

I work for a busy estate agent office in Crook where we have experienced a few leasehold sales derailed as a result of short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Crook conveyancing firms. Please can you shed some light as to whether the owner of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

Provided that the seller has owned the lease for at least 2 years it is possible, to serve a Section 42 notice to kick-start 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 for a lease extension. Both sets of lawyers will agree to form of assignment. The assignment has to be done prior to, or simultaneously with completion of the disposal of the property.

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.

Are there common problems that you encounter in leases for Crook properties?

Leasehold conveyancing in Crook is not unique. All leases is drafted differently and legal mistakes in the legal wording can sometimes mean that certain clauses are wrong. The following missing provisions could result in a defective lease:

• Repairing obligations to or maintain parts of the premises
• A duty to insure the building
• Clauses dealing with recovering service charges for expenditure on the building or common parts.
• Service charge per centages that don't add up correctly leaving a shortfall

A defective lease will likely cause issues when trying to sell a property primarily because it impacts on the ability to obtain a mortgage on the property. HSBC Bank, The Mortgage Works, and Barclays Direct all have express requirements when it comes to what is expected in a lease. Where a lender has been advised by their lawyers that the lease is defective they may refuse to provide security, obliging the buyer to pull out.

I invested in buying a split level flat in Crook, conveyancing formalities finalised 10 years ago. Can you give me give me an indication of the likely cost of a lease extension? Equivalent properties in Crook with over 90 years remaining are worth £221,000. The average or mid-range amount of ground rent is £55 yearly. The lease terminates on 21st October 2090

With just 64 years unexpired we estimate the price of your lease extension to span between £15,200 and £17,600 plus costs.

The figure 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. You should not use the figures in a Notice of Claim or as an informal offer. There are no doubt other concerns that need to be taken into account and clearly you want to be as accurate as possible in your negotiations. You should not take any other action based on this information before getting professional advice.