I only have 68 years remaining on my flat in Crowborough. I now want to extend my lease but my freeholder is absent. What are my options?

If you meet the appropriate requirements, 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 have used your best endeavours to find the lessor. In some cases a specialist would be useful to carry out a search and to produce an expert document which can be accepted by the court as evidence that the freeholder can not be located. It is wise to seek advice from a conveyancer in relation to investigating the landlord’s absence and the application to the County Court overseeing Crowborough.

I’m about to sell my 2 bed flat in Crowborough.Conveyancing lawyers have not yet been instructed but I have just had a quarterly maintenance charge invoice – what should I do?

The sensible thing to do is clear the service charge 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.

Last month I purchased a leasehold property in Crowborough. Do I have any liability for service charges relating to a period prior to my ownership?

In a situation where the service charge has already been demanded from the previous owner and they have not paid you would not usually be personally liable for the arrears. Strange as it may seem, your landlord may still be able to take action to forfeit the lease. A critical element of leasehold conveyancing for your conveyancer to ensure to have an up to date clear service charge receipt before completion of your purchase. If you have a mortgage this is likely to be a requirement of your lender.

If you purchase part way through an accounting year you may be liable for charges not yet demanded even if they relate to a period prior to your purchase. In such circumstances your conveyancer would normally arrange for the seller to set aside some money to cover their part of the period (usually called a service charge retention).

I am a negotiator for a reputable estate agency in Crowborough where we have witnessed a number of flat sales derailed due to short leases. I have been given contradictory information from local Crowborough conveyancing firms. Could you shed some light as to whether the vendor of a flat can commence the lease extension formalities for the purchaser on completion of the sale?

As long as the seller has been the owner 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 can avoid having 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 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.

Can you offer any advice when it comes to choosing a Crowborough conveyancing firm to carry out our lease extension conveyancing?

If you are instructing a conveyancer for your lease extension (regardless if they are a Crowborough conveyancing firm) it is imperative that he or she should be familiar with the legislation and specialises in this area of work. We recommend that you talk with two or three firms including non Crowborough 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 of use:

• How familiar is the firm with lease extension legislation?

I am the registered owner of a 1st floor flat in Crowborough, conveyancing formalities finalised 5 years ago. How much will my lease extension cost? Corresponding properties in Crowborough with an extended lease are worth £218,000. The ground rent is £65 invoiced every year. The lease finishes on 21st October 2077

With 52 years remaining on your lease the likely cost is going to span between £35,200 and £40,600 as well as costs.

The suggested premium range that we have given is a general guide to costs for renewing a lease, but we are not able to provide a more accurate figure without more detailed due diligence. You should 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. Neither should you take any other action based on this information without first getting professional advice.

Other Topics

Lease Extensions in Crowborough